Old Civilizations Of The New World

OLD CIVILIZATIONS
OF THE NEW WORLD

Old Civilizations

of the

New World

BY A. HYATT VERRILL

Author of Lost Treasure , Great Conquerors
of South, and Cemfrgl^America, etc.

‘ w 'i ;

THE NEW HOME LIBRARY
NEW YORK

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH TlIE BoBBS-MeRRILL COMPANY
Reprinted October, 1942

COPYRIGHT, 1929, BY A. HYATT TERRILL

The New Home Library, 14 West Forty-ninth Street
New York, N. Y.

CL

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

PREFACE

The story of man in America, the mystery of his

San n of the *?*"**- ** history of the rise
t / f ^ ° f rem *fkablecultures and civilizations older
than those of Egypt, form a fascinating tale. Un¬
fortunately, it is a tale little known to the average
man or wpman. Much has been written and pub-

tt ed the Sub j ect ’ but generally it has been neither
res mg nor available to the layman. Most of the

ch^l. aVe n° f E StriCtly Sdentific or technical
* usua % each volume, monograph or
pamphlet has been devoted exclusively to some cer-
tam race, ruin or other phase of toe matter, and
the ordinary mortal who might seek to acquire even
a superficial knowledge of prehistoric civilisations
and aboriginal races in America would be compelled
to peruse innumerable tomes, pamphlets and reports.
Even then it is doubtful if he would learn a^reat
deal, for onty the professional ethnologist, ardSolo-

5"*,” T' 0gist can the ”*™ings of

works filled with purely scientific terms.

A few books of a popular character dealing with

certain^localities or races have appeared, as for ex-

ample Prescott’s Conquest of Peru , hut unfortunate-

iy m most of these the actual facts are largely hidden

tinder a n overburden of romance and legend.

far as I am aware, and I believe I possess a

v

Without the free and hearty cooperation of many
scientific friends and acquaintances, the preparation
of this book would have been impossible, and I wish
to take this opportunity of expressing my thanks
and appreciation to all those who so kindly have
aided me but who are so numerous that it is im¬
possible to mention them by name.

A. Hyatt Veueill

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

PREFACE

PAGE

T

I THE ORIGIN OF MAN IN AMERICA 1

Theories of man’s origin in America. Old and
New World mammals. New and Old World
domestic birds and animals. Birds of the East¬
ern and Western Hemispheres. Conclusions we
can and cannot draw from these. Similarity of
vegetation in Old and New World. Cultivated
plants. ^ Insects, reptiles, fish, etc. Common ori¬
gin. _ Diffusion. Independent origin. Land con¬
nections. Is man indigenous to America? The
question of anthropoid apes. Creation or evo¬
lution. Theories of man’s migration to America.

Age of man in America. Geographical alterations.
Arguments in rebuttal. Intercourse between
America and the Pacific islands. Variation in
types and races. Isolated developments. Unique
cultures. Ancient myths. Unsupported theories.

An involved question. Superiority of American
arts.

II CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND IN¬
FLUENCES

When culture began. Beginning of cultural in-
fluence. Evolution of culture. Duplication and
its reasons. Tribal cultures. Common features
Environment, etc. Effects of locality, etc. No-
mads and sedentary races. Varying conditions of
life. Physical development. Influences not proof
of relationships. Trading. Examples of observed
influences. Changes in habits. Nomadic tribes’
limitation. Geographical and other conditions.
Wide variation in American races who developed
civilizations. Attainments and characters. De¬
velopment through necessity. Cave-dwellers to
Pueblos. Extent of Pueblo development. Why
ancient American civilizations were developed. A
question of temperament. Imagination and art.
Esthetic progress. Religions and their effects.

CONTENT S —Contiwu

PAGE

CHAPTER

III PUZZLES AND PROBLEMS 39

Mysteries and theories. Small extent of knowl¬
edge. Origin of races. Puzzling facts. Civiliza¬
tions developed in tropics. Suppositions. Lack of
civilizations in North America. The mound-
builders, cliff-dwellers and Pueblos. Ignorance of
mound-builders. Suggestions. What we do know
of the mound-builders. Lack of reliable histories.
Traditions and legends. Mayan histories. The
Books of Childm Baldm . The Popul Vuh. Con¬
flicting traditions. Allegorical myths. Lack of
knowledge of Aztecs. Mystery of origin. Tradi¬
tions, history. Codices. Tales that do not agree.

The questionable Toltecs. Mysterious races of
South America. Chibehas, Manabis, Nascas, etc.

Blank spaces on the map. Why no civilized races
in portions of Panama? Insoluble problems. The
greatest puzzles of all. How did the ancient races
perform their feats? Unanswered riddles.

IV RELATIVE AGES OP AMERICAN CIVILI¬

ZATIONS 50

Difficulty in placing ages. Contrast with European
records. Lack of recorded language and histories.

Codices and inscription. Methods of estimating
age. Human remains. Unreliability. Lack of data.
Alteration of conditions. Ruins. Changes due to
man. Lack of beginning or end of civilizations.
Stratification. What we know from stratification.

The most ancient of the civilizations. Central
America most ancient. Reasons for assumption.

Cultured races of Middle America. What is a
culture and what a civilization? Supposed relative
ages of civilization.

V GENERALIZATIONS 63

Common features. Variations. Implements,
weapons, etc. Metals. Remarkable features.
Stonework. # Cyclopean masonry. Similarity of
designs. Universal figures. Common origins. Tex¬
tiles, ceramics, etc. Ports and armies. Treasures.
Engineering. Arts and sciences. Calendars. Cul¬
tivated plants. Domestic animals. Weapons
common to all. Utensils. Puzzles of tools. Lack
of iron or steel.

VI THE POMPEII OF AMERICA 72

The recently discovered Cocl6 culture of Panama.

Reasons for considering it the most ancient of
Central American cultures. Size of area and pop¬
ulation, Extent of remains. Stone monuments,

Craves. Village sites. The wonderful temple site
of a thousand idols. Arrangement of temple. In-

PAGE

CONTENT S —Continued

39

50

63

72

CHAPTER PAGE

numerable columns. Symbolic of the sun. Size of
monoliths. Ceramics. Implements. Tools. Idols.

Altars or sacrificial stones. Human sacrifices.

Animal effigies. Nude figures. The inexplicable
elephant. Vast quantity of pottery. Remarkable
character of pottery. Unique forms. Scrolls.

Colors. Effigy jars. Prehistoric creatures. The
dragon. The plumed serpent. Ornaments. Gold.
Sacrificed pottery. Burial customs. Cremation—
Secondary burials. Industries. Customs. Personal
appearance. Reason for destruction. ' Earth¬
quakes and eruption.

YII THE MAYAS 94

Area occupied by the Mayas. Comparatively
small area studied. Lack of knowledge of many
things. Mayan outposts. Yucatan Mayas. New
empire. Date of new empire. Mystery of origin
and identity. Mayan dialects. Recorded history.

Recent discoveries. End of the empire. Conquest
by Aztecs. Organization. A vast confederation.

Kings and dynasties. Codices. Multiplicity of
gods. Important deities. Symbolic beings. The
Mayan calendar. The most remarkable numerical
system. The Mayan glyphs. Interpreting in¬
scriptions. The sculptured monuments. Mayan
architecture. Roofs. Lack of arch. Woodwork.

Mounds. Buildings. Carvings. Frescoes. Cement.

Stucco. Mayan cities and ruins. Bearded gods.

Altars. Sacrifices. The Sacred Well. Religion.
Festivals. Character of people. Roads. Public
works. Astronomy. Science. Education. Priest¬
hood- Arts. Games. Sports.

VIII THE DESCENDANTS OF THE MAYAS 143

The Mayan tribes at the time of the conquest.

Mayas of to-day. Ancient customs, arts and re¬
ligion. Dialects. Condition. The 4 ‘Black Christ.”

The Santa Cruz Indians. Reasons for savagery.
Romantic story of Gonzalo Guerrero. Mayan
dances. Mayan outposts. The Shaysh&ns. The
Codes. Habits. Life. Arts. Weapons. Dialects.

Religion. Dances.

IX THE TOLTECS AND AZTECS 156

Erroneous ideas. Other Mexican cultures. Mis¬
nomers. The Aztec confederation. Nahuas. The
Toltecs. Legends. Facts. Migrations of Aztecs.

Loss of codices. Contemporary works. Gaps in
history. Inaccuracy of accounts. Extent of Aztec
civilization. Feather-work. Various arts. Mo¬
saics. Stonework. Gem-cutting. Carving. Ob¬
sidian artides. Tools. Weapons. Metal work.

The atlatl. Armor. Musical instruments. Paint-

CONTENT S—Continued

PAGE

CHAPTER

mg. Maps. Codices. Pictorial writing. Symbolic
characters. Phonetic writing. The Aztec calendar.
The mystic thirteen. Sciences. Spoken language.
Social organization. Dynasty. Government
Education. Priests. Domestic life. Religion"
Deities. Mythology. Cannibalism. Important
gods. Sacrifices. Festivals. The Plumed Serpent.
Prophecies. # Planet-worship. Human sacrifices,
lakmg captives. .Character of people. Folk-lore.
Lost colonies. Hidden objects. Founding of the
capital. Mexico at the time of the conquest. Size
otcity. Population. Other towns. Streets. Dikes.
Houses. Temples and palaces. Pyramids. Altars.
Architecture. Holy cities. Cemeteries. Ruins.
Art. Pottery. Sculptures. Archaic objects. Leg-
ends. Montezuma and his palace. Riches. The
Calendar Stone.

X

XI

WHERE MONTEZUMA STILE RULES 204

Descendants of the Aztecs. Aztec colonies and
provinces. The Guaymfs. Physical characteris¬
tics. Number of tribe. Habits. Villages and
houses. A clean race. Provisions. Crops. Cos¬
tumes. Insignia of chiefs. Facial painting. Social
and governmental systems. Chiefs. Religion.

Gods and spirits. Devils. Idols. Proxies. Cere-
momals. Message-strings. Ceremonial temples,
ihe king. Montezuma. Description of ceremonial,
fotrange proxies. A remarkable custom. The
stick dance. A strenuous sport. Contests and
games. The survival of the atlatl. Aztec dialects.

Arts atm industries. A unique mechanical device.

Musical instruments. Lack of traditions and leg-
ends. Ceremonial customs. Use of black. Sym¬
bol of night. Devil-traps. Devil-sticks. Use of
the cross. Fetishes. Theories of origin.

THE KINGDOM OF THE GRAND CHIMIT 222

CWmu capital. An immense city,
ftesent state. Rums. _ Chimu culture. Stone-
^ 4 . Ceramics - Metal work. A lost

of treasure found. Burials.
f ° f the e %y l ars - A strange theory,
bymbolic language. Erotic ware. Types of Dot-
tery. Language of Ghimus. Traditions. History.

The Grand Chimu. Origin. Migrations. King-
dom. ^public. Agriculture. Irrigation. Aqul

Puhlt ?!?' Llfe ° f People- Palaces. Temples.

Public buddings. Reservoirs. Baths. Art and

fl®“, ratl p e “ otlfs - Pa »tings. Frescoes. Effect of
floods Earthquakes. Conquest by Aztecs. Down-
M of empire. Forts. End of the Chimu civiliza-

PAGE

CONTENT S—i Continued

PAGE

204

222

CHAPTER

XII MYSTERIOUS FORGOTTEN RACES 239

The Chibchas. Arts and Industries. Language.
Government. Social organisation. Laws. Cus¬
toms. Metal work. Pottery. Riches. Religion.
Dynasty. Ceremonials. Burial customs. The
Manabis. Mysterious races. Gold work. Ceram¬
ics.^ Stone thrones. Culture. Sculptures. Re¬
mains of unknown races. Mysteries. Ruins and
remains. Vast extent of ruins. Countless burials.

Mounds. Mummies. Stratification. Superim¬
posed cultures. The Nasca culture. Ceramic
arts. Pottery. Designs. Symbols. Textiles.
Feather-work. Woodwork. Metal work. Agri¬
culturalists. Fishermen. Buildings. Religion. A
remarkable discovery. The pink cities. Arts and
industries. Textiles. Ceramics. Puzzles. Influ¬
ences. Relationships. Dialects. Origin. Oriental
theories.

XIII THE MYSTERY OF TIAHUANACO 258

The oldest city in America.^ Strange location.

Ruins. Destruction. A holy city. Origin of name.

Legends. Variation in type. Abandoned mono¬
liths. Theories. Stone images. Artificial hills.
Akapana. Water systems. Temple of the Sun.
Columns.^ Monuments. ^ Gateway of the Sun.

Largest single^ sculpture in the world. Carvings.

Symbols. Religion. Tunca-Punca or the Place of
Ten Doors. Stupendous buildings. Enormous
slabs of rock. Metal staples,, Silver. A magnifi¬
cent structure. Perfection of stone-cutting. Did
the Tiahu&nacans use the wheel? An interesting
discovery. Pottery. Effigy jars. Portraits. Use
of coca. Costumes. Wide influence of Tiahudnaco.
Mysteries.

XIV THE INCANS AND PRE-IN CANS 277

Misconceptions and erroneous ideas. Reasons for
these. Prescott’s mistakes. Term Inca misapplied.

Mystery of the origin of the Incas. Inferiority
compared to pre-Incas. _ Lack of history and tra¬
dition. Whom the Spaniards found in Peru. Incan
tradition. Succession of Incas. Allegories. The
first Inca. ^ Beginning;, of Incan empire. A vast
confederation The World’s greatest communism.

A marvelous social organization. Laws and pun¬
ishments. Tribute and taxes. Aristocracy. Con¬
quests. Riches. Revolts. Wars. Extension of
empire. An Incan Napoleon 0 Conquest of Chi-
mus. Public works. Civil war. The last of the
Incas. Treasures of the Incas. Incredible riches
of the Temple of the Sun. Metal workers. Cul¬
tures of Pachacamac. The sacred city. Present
state. Desecration. Treasure of Pachacamac.

CONTENT S —Continued

PAG®

CHAPTER

Other cities. Burials. Mounds. Ruins. Tombs.

Millions of mummies. Burial customs. Cyclopean
buildings. Pre-Incan architecture. o Round and
about the Incan capital. Incan architecture. An
architectural masterpiece. The Temple of the Sun
as Pizarro found it. Loot. Losses to science.
Portresses. Chulpas. Astronomy. Calendar. The
Incan drama. Sciences. No written language.
Carvings. Inscriptions. Quipos. Uncanny powers.

Legend of the Saycunin. Confusion of names.

Origin of tradition of Incas. An amazing feat.

The Incan road. Great engineering feats. Art
and industries. Woodwork. A lost art. Textiles.

Dyes. Designs. The six-unit pattern. Folk-lore
and legends. Religions. Gods and deities.
Mythology. Wira-Kocha. Genealogy of the Incas.

XV THE CHILDREN OP THE SUN 329

End of the Incan Empire. Conquest by the
Spaniards. Survivors. Quichuas and Aimarfis.

Tribes. Dialects. Customs. Incas. Physical
characteristics. Temperaments. Dress. Customs.

Life. Agriculture. Industry. Patience. Homes.

Trade. Survival of ancient customs. Beasts of
burden. Sadness. Music. Amusements. Gentle¬
ness. Fondness for domestic animals. Animals’

Saints’ days. Festivals. Worship and religion.
Textiles. Ceramics. Leather work. Mimics.

Labor. Importance of Indians. Intelligence.

Future of the Indians. Examples of Incan music.

Music of Ollmiay. La Quefia. Dance music
Love songs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 859

INDEX

881

FACES

329

OLD CIVILIZATIONS
OF THE NEW WORLD

359

881

OLD CIVILIZATIONS
OF THE NEW WORLD

CHAPTER I

THE ORIGIN OF MAN IN AMERICA

No one can conclusively state who were the first
human beings to inhabit America. Neither can any
one say whence or when these first men came; nor
indeed whether they came at all or originated here.

Innumerable theories have been advanced to ac¬
count for the presence of the so-called aboriginal
Americans, or, as they are more commonly called,
Indians, in the New World. Many of these theories
appear to have excellent arguments to support them,
but if we study them with an open mind, we will find
almost if not fully as many arguments in rebuttal.
Thus, the marsupials are confined to America and
Australia and we might reasonably assume that this
fact goes far toward proving some prehistoric con¬
nection between the two continents. Likewise, as the
only living species of tapirs are those of South
America and Malaysia we might assume some ancient
direct connection between these two countries. On
the other hand, we might argue that as camels, ele¬
phants, rhinoceri and hippopotami are found only in
Africa and Asia, we have proof that there was no
connection between those continents and America.
But we must remember that while there are no living

2 Old Civilizations of the New World

representatives of these creatures in the New World,
there were many species inhabiting America in pre¬
historic days, as is proved by their fossil remains.
The presence of any group of animals in widely
separated areas merely proves that, for some un¬
known reasons, certain individuals or species of
one group escaped the utter extinction suffered
by other groups. Also, in many cases, evolution,
due to environment or other causes, so changed
the descendants of the original groups that they
are scarcely recognizable. Thus the llamas, alpacas,
vicunas and guanacos are all camels, although dif¬
ferent from ordinary camels in outward appear¬
ance. Neither must we overlook the fact that there
are far more forms common to America, Asia and
Europe than to Africa or Australia and America.
Our bison and the European bison are closely related.
We have the caribou which to the ordinary observer
is indistinguishable from the reindeer of Asia and
Europe. The American moose and the Old World
elk are very much alike, and there are few European
or Asiatic mammals or birds that are not represented
by closely related species in America. But it is a
significant fact that, with few exceptions, all these are
distinct species with characteristics which must have
required countless ages for development. This proves
beyond denial that any direct terrestrial bridge which
may have existed between the New and the Old
Worlds must have existed in the most remote times,
and as far as we know long before man’s presence.

We have still further proof of this in the birds.
Thus the humming-birds are confined solely to
America, as are the toucans, trogans and many other

3

The Origin - of Man in America

birds, while the hornbills, birds-of-paradise, hoopoes
and other families are restricted to the Old World.
This is more surprising inasmuch as birds migrate
and wander for far greater distances than do mam¬
mals, and are not by nature obliged to follow land
routes. No one can explain why such birds as hum¬
ming-birds should be confined to one of the hemi¬
spheres, whereas parrots, although they do not
possess such powers of flight as the humming-birds,
are found all over the world. So when we begin to
seek proof of man’s migrations or origin by studying
the mammalian or bird fauna of various countries we
come face to face with facts which are if anything
more inexplicable than the riddle we are attempting
to solve.

The same is more or less true of the flora. WTiile
many closely related species of plants occur on the
American continent and in Asia or Europe, there are
fully as many which are confined to one of these con¬
tinents and which have no representatives, as species,
genera or even orders, in the others. The same is
true to greater or lesser extent of the insects, mollus-
ca, reptiles, fish and lowest forms of invertebrates.
Each hemisphere has certain species peculiar to itself
but closely allied to those of the other hemisphere, and
both have forms which have no counterparts else¬
where. The question therefore is: can we assume
that all had a common origin, that all were carried far
and wide in ancient times and gradually became dif¬
ferentiated through environment and other causes, or
can we assume that like conditions begot like results
and that evolution in the animal and plant world pro¬
ceeded more or less similarly throughout the world?

4 Old Civilizations of the New World

If we accept the former theory, we can accept the
theory that man also migrated to America from some
part of the Old World; but if we believe the latter
supposition, then we can equally well maintain that
human beings also were evolved or created and de¬
veloped quite independently in the New World as well
as in the old. In all probability there is truth in both
theories, for only in that way can we account for the
similarity of some forms of life and the entire absence
of others.

Unquestionably, at one time in the history of the
world, there were either direct land connections or a
series of islands between the two hemispheres.
Whether or not these existed after human beings had
appeared on earth, or whether they connected Ameri¬
ca and Oceania, America and Africa or America and
Europe and Asia no one can state definitely. Prob¬
ably there were migrations of human beings from one
hemisphere to another. In fact, we have almost
positive proof of that fact. But that does not prove
that man may not have originated in America as well
as anywhere else. Those who pooh-pooh the sug¬
gestion that man was evolved or created in the New
World point to the fact that no anthropoid apes,
either modern or fossil, have been found in America.
But that is not proof that such remains may not exist,
nor that, for some reason unknown, such remains ex¬
isted but were not preserved as fossils, nor that the
area such apes may have inhabited long ago may not
have vanished below the sea. That anthropoid apes
do not occur in America and that their fossil remains
have not been discovered here no more prove that
such creatures did not exist nor that man did not

5

The Origin of Man in America

evolve here than the fact that marsupials are confined
to Australia and America proves a direct connection
between these two continents. And for those who
have no faith in the theory of evolution, there is of
course no reason why man should not have been
created in one place as well as in another, or for that
matter in a dozen or more localities independently.

On the other hand, if we consider the theories of
man having migrated to America from oversea, we
run against innumerable facts which both prove and
disprove the suppositions. In my boyhood days it was
a generally accepted conclusion that the American
Indians, from the Arctic to Cape Horn and from the
Atlantic to the Pacific, were all descendants of
Asiatics who, at some former period, crossed over
from one continent to the other via Bering Strait.
But there were many arguments against this theory
and many stumbling-blocks for those who held to it.
Then a theory was advanced wherein it was main¬
tained that many if not all of the Indian races’ ances¬
tors had reached America from northern Europe via
Greenland. Others have claimed that Atlantis was
no myth but a reality, and that the aborigines of
America are descended from the inhabitants of that
lost continent. Some authorities have satisfied them¬
selves that the South Sea Islands, or some long-
submerged archipelago in the South Pacific, were the
localities whence the first men and women migrated
to the New World; others argue in favor of some
long-vanished mid-Pacific continent ; still others claim
that the Indians belong to the lost tribes of Israel;
while some persons have brought forth plausible
arguments to prove that the forebears of the red men

6 Old Civilizations of the New World

were the hardy Norse Vikings. A vast amount of
breath, and a veritable sea of ink have been wasted,
life-long friendships have been sacrificed and count¬
less fortunes have been spent over this one question,
but without definite results.

After all, why should any one try to prove that all
the aborigines of America had a common origin? Is
there any more valid or plausible reason for assuming
that all the American tribes are attributable to the
same race or stock than to assume that all European
or Asiatic races are descendants of one parent stock?
Even if we admit that man originated in Asia, we
must acknowledge the fact that the European races
are the result of migrations, interminglings and con¬
quests of many stocks from Asia, Africa and else¬
where.

No anthropologist, ethnologist or archeologist
would dare to claim that the Norwegians are variants
of the Slavs, nor that the Teutonic races are merely
aberrant forms of the Gallic races. Why then should
any one have the temerity to declare, and endeavor to
prove, that all the so-called American Indians are
descendants of migrants from any one locality, be it
Asia, Europe or Oceania? Actually we know little
regarding the origin of man in America, and it is not
at all impossible that our descendants, centuries hence,
will be as much in the dark as ourselves.

But we do know many more facts about the history,
or at least the presence of early Americans than we
did a few years ago. In the first place, we have to
set back man’s presence in America by a small matter
of thousands of years. Not so long ago, any one who
dared suggest that human beings dwelt in America

The Origin of Man in America 7

prior to the glacial period, or that man roamed our
mountains, plains and forests more than twenty
thousand years ago, would have been shouted down
as an iconoclast and a fool. But to-day we have
positive proof that man not only inhabited North
America during the Pleistocene period, previous to
the Glacial period, but that Pleistocene man in the
New World was the equal if not the superior of man
in the Old World at the same time. In various locali¬
ties, notably in gravel deposits at Frederick, Okla¬
homa and Raton, New Mexico, human artifacts
have been found associated with the skeletons of
known Pleistocene-period animals. Among these were
mastodons, camels, ground-sloths, glyptodons, horses,
elephants. Here, underneath the fossils, were found
excellently made flint arrow- and spear-heads and
other artifacts, so placed that there can be no question
that they were deposited before the long-dead animals
found their last resting-places in the gravels. Per¬
haps, if we had only one instance to go by, we might
question this. But similar relics have been found
among the fossil bones of Pleistocene animals in at
least fifty localities in North America. And in more
than one instance, as at Colorado, Texas, the flint
weapons had obviously killed the creatures, some be¬
ing within the skeletons and others embedded in the
bones.

As these fossil mammals are typical of the first
Glacial or Aftonian stage of the Pleistocene period,
which is roughly estimated to have been more than
five hundred thousand years ago, the men who made
the stone weapons, and used them for killing bison and
other huge animals, must have been well along on the

8 Old Civilizations of the New World

road to culture before the famed Cro-Magnon and
Neanderthal men of Europe first learned to throw a
stone or wield a club.

Just what these immeasurably ancient Americans
were like we cannot say, for up to the present time
we have found no skeletons nor skulls dating from
that time. But, judging from their weapons, which
were not the crude, roughly hewn, hardly recognizable
weapons of ape-men, they were highly intelligent and
specialized human beings. Since, indisputably, they
were in America at a time when only the lowest types
of human beings, if any, inhabited Europe and North¬
ern Asia, the natural query is: whence did they come?

There is no definite answer to that question. The
adherents to the theory that man originated on this
continent point proudly to this fact and claim it tends
to prove their contention: man didn’t come—he was
here. Their adversaries reply, like the Irishman, by
asking another question. If, say they, man originated
on the American continent, why have we never found
remains of ape-like men or anthropoid apes who, so
scientists aver, were ancestors of man as we know
him? And if man originated in America, why should
the oldest and most primitive skeletal remains be
found in the Old World?

These questions are not, however, such unanswer¬
able riddles as they might seem. In the first place, far
less anthropological research work has been carried
on in America than in Europe, Asia or Africa,
Europe and Asia especially have been fairly well
searched for human remains for many years; they
have been densely populated for a much longer period
than any part of America, and in Europe there is

9

The Origin oe Man in America

scarcely a square mile that has not been examined
and studied. Yet every little while some hone or
skull or other remnant of ancient man is unearthed
in such densely peopled and systematically searched
localities as England, France or Germany. Hence
the mere fact that the remains of low types of ape¬
like humans have not been found in America is no
proof that they do not exist, nor that they may not
be found to-morrow or next week. The same is true
of the remains of the anthropoid apes; while the fact
that there are no living representatives of these apes
in America is no more of an argument against man
having originated here, than their absence from
Europe and continental Asia is proof that man did
not originate in those countries.

Unquestionably, half a million years or more ago,
the oceans and the continents were quite differently
formed and disposed than at the present time. For
all we know, there may have been fairly easy bridges
of islands or even solid land across the Pacific or
Atlantic. It is possible that the ape ancestors of man¬
kind, assuming there were such, may have had their
homes upon lands which have long since been sub¬
merged, and certain species—such as the orangs, gib¬
bons, chimpanzees and gorillas—may have migrated
to Asia and Africa and hence escaped extermination,
even though none migrated to America. Or again,
if, for the sake of argument, we assume that man
evolved from apes in America and that such apes
survived prior to the Glacial period, the glaciers might
utterly have destroyed the apes, while the human be¬
ings, possessing greater intelligence and an ability to
travel afoot, might have survived by migrating south-

10 Old Civilizations of the New Would

ward as the encroaching ice-cap moved southward
from the Arctic regions. At any rate, there is only
negative evidence that man did not originate in
America, while we know that he was here and was a
mighty hunter in the land before his compeers in¬
habited northern Europe.

There are just as many arguments for and against
nearly every other theory of man’s presence in the
New World. In favor of the Bering Strait theory
is the fact that many Indian tribes have physical char¬
acteristics similar to those of northern Asiatic races;
that even to-day there is more or less of a migration
between northeastern Asia and the extreme tip of
northwestern Alaska, and that distinctively Asiatic
dialects are spoken by many Alaskan and north¬
western American tribes. But against this theory we
have an equal or even greater array of arguments.
In the first place, the facial appearance or external
physical characters of a man or a race may be greatly
influenced or altered by environment. Men who live
on open sunny plains and deserts, or in lands where
there is much snow, acquire squinting eyes or even
slightly oblique eyes and high cheek-bones, just as
mountaineers develop strong legs, deep chests and
powerful backs, while tribes which travel largely by
canoes develop broad chests, powerful shoulders and
arms and become weak or under-developed in their
lower limbs. Moreover, only a small percentage of
all Indians of North, Central and South America
possess the Mongol features. In the second place,
the Asiatic dialects disappear completely as soon as
we go far from the northwestern coast tribes, whereas,
were all tribes descendants of Mongolian races, we

The Origin - oe Man in America 11

woultl expect to find traces of the Mongol dialects
among most if not all American tribes, no matter how
far their ancestors might have wandered. Then there
is the fact that if all American tribes are descendants
of northern Asiatic migrants, the original migration
must have taken place countless ages ago. Besides,
it would require an enormous lapse of time for a
handful of wanderers to multiply and spread from
the Arctic Circle to Cape Horn and from ocean to
ocean and gradually to develop the diversity of tribes,
dialects, customs and religions which have existed for
centuries among the aborigines of America. Yet the
sponsors of this theory would have us believe that
the theoretical migration took place at a time when
the Mongol migrants were well along in arts, crafts
and other attainments. If we accept this, then how
can we account for the fact that the crudest of crude
implements are found in graves in southern Chile,
thousands of miles from Bering Strait? Finally, we
have the fact that previous to the arrival of Columbus
no domestic quadrupeds or birds of the Old World,
and no cultivated plants of Europe or Asia, were
known to the Indians, and that no domesticated ani¬
mals and no cultivated plants peculiar to America
were known in Asia or Europe.

There are almost as many and very similar argu¬
ments for and against the Greenland, the Atlantis,
the west African or the southern European origin of
American races, and, in lesser degree perhaps, the
same holds true of the theory that man migrated to
America from Oceania or from some long-vanished
Pacific archipelago.

In the latter case, however, the arguments and

12 Old Civilization's of the New World

proofs in favor of the theory would appear rather
more numerous than those in rebuttal. In fact, about
the only valid or apparently valid arguments against
this theory are the claims that it would have been im¬
possible for a large number of people to have crossed
the Pacific in primitive craft, and that if all the In¬
dians are descendants of Oceanic races, traces of their
dialects would appear throughout the American con¬
tinents. As a matter of fact, it would not he at all
difficult for any large canoe or catamaran to cross
from Polynesia to South America even at the present
time, and if such a migration ever took place thou¬
sands of years ago the chances are that at that time
there were many islands or archipelagoes which have
since disappeared. It has been fairly well established
that Easter Island is merely the remnant of an
archipelago that existed in comparatively recent times,
and it is not at all impossible nor improbable that the
submergence of this or some other archipelago or
island was the primary reason for its inhabitants mi¬
grating oversea to America. In fact, with the pre¬
vailing winds and currents of the Pacific, about the
only course that could have been followed under such
conditions would have been toward America. Also,
there is the undeniable fact that among nearly all the
tribes of western South America we find words—not
one or two but scores—which are strikingly like and
m many cases identical with words cf the same mean¬
ings m Oceanian dialects. In some of their arts,
habits and religious beliefs there is a great similarity
between the natives of Oceania and the tribes of
western South America, while many of these South
American tribes are astonishingly like the natives of

The Origin of Man in America 13

the Pacific Islands in features, color and other re¬
spects. Finally, we have the strange bearded Indians
or Sirionos of Bolivia, an isolated, primitive race with
slightly wavy, fine hair, great bushy beards, typically
Oceanian features, who bear no faintest resemblance
to any other known Indian tribe.

Moreover, we know positively that there was some
communication between the inhabitants of our Pacific
coast and the inhabitants of mid-Pacific islands in
prehistoric times. In excavating prehistoric graves
on the Californian coast, members of an expedition of
the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Founda¬
tion, obtained adzes, and ax-heads of Pacific island
workmanship and composed of stone found only on
those islands.

Also, among the thousands of artifacts recovered
from the remains of the exceedingly ancient Code
civilization in Panama, I found a number which can
be explained only on the theory that the people who
dwelt there were in more or less direct communication
with the Orient.

Hence, it would rather seem that the trans-Pacific
theory has more to support it than the others. But
let me repeat, why is it necessary to assume that any
one of these various theories is the only correct ex¬
planation of man’s presence in America? Is it not
reasonable to assume that human beings may have
crossed from Asia via Bering Strait; that others
reached the New World by way of Greenland; that
still others came from Atlantis or southern Europe,
and that tribes also crossed from Oceania or mid-
Pacific archipelagoes ? And is it impossible that these
migrants may have found indigenous men already in

14 Old Civilizations of the New Would

America? The intermingling of all these varied races
might well have resulted in the wide diversity of types
and tribes in America, and it would account for the
fact that, here and there, throughout the length and
breadth of the western hemisphere, we find individuals
and tribes who seem types of far distant tribes and
races; as well as words, artifacts and customs similar
to, or identical with, like things of tribes separated by
thousands of miles, and apparently in no way related.

Whatever the solution to the problem, despite the
fact that the history of the American Indian is
shrouded in mystery, we know that when the first
Europeans set foot on the western hemisphere the
country was inhabited by countless distinct and diverse
tribes. Indeed, the variation of races, customs and
dialects was far greater in the New World than in
the Old. In California alone, more than one hundred
distinct languages or dialects were spoken by the
Indians within an area of a few square miles, a greater
number for the same amount of territory than in any
other portion of the world. The condition of the
natives at the time of the European invasion varied
as greatly as their tongues and characters. Some were
primitive naked savages; some were nomads; some
hunters; some agriculturalists. Some dwelt in the
flimsiest shelters of brush and bark; others had large,
well-built, wooden houses ; some had dwellings of
stone ; others built their homes of adobe, and some used
skins of beasts. All had advanced far above the ape¬
like type, and used well-made weapons, tools and im¬
plements. The majority were in the Stone age, but
many had learned to smelt metals and used bronze
or copper, gold and silver. Many had reached a high

15

The Origin" of Man in America

state of culture and had attained great artistic skill,
while a number had developed advanced civilizations
and in some ways had accomplished feats which had
never been excelled, if equaled, by any other race in
the history of the world.

It is in the attainments of these civilized American
races that we find some of the strongest evidence
against any theory of migrations from any known
existent land. Among these are the remarkable
written or recorded language of the Mayas, the
architecture of the pre-Incas, the ceramics of the
Nascas, the calendar of the Toltec-Aztecs, the culture
of the Chimus, etc. Nowhere, in all the world, was
there anything remotely resembling many of these
things, and stranger still, and even more inexplicable,
is the fact that many of these appear to have sprung
into full bloom, so to speak, overnight. It is for all
the world as though some supergenius had invented
or evolved an idea and perfected it in a day. There
are not, so far as is known, any remains of preliminary
steps or beginnings to show a gradual evolution or
building up, nor any evidence to lead us to assume
that the results were the culmination of slow improve¬
ment through many centuries.

The Mayan writing is one of the most marvelous
achievements of any race and is known only in its
most highly perfected form, yet it must necessarily
have required thousands of years for development.
But it has no counterpart, nothing remotely resem¬
bling it, in the entire world. The Aztec calendar is
another example. The Cyclopean architecture of the
Andean highlands in no way resembles the architec¬
ture of any other known land or race, and, as far as

16 Old Civilizations of the New World

we know, there is no intermediate type of architecture
between these pre-Incan and the later Incan forms.
Nowhere else on earth are there such structures as at •
Tiahuanaeo in Bolivia, and nowhere are there remains
showing an archaic or primitive type of such work.
There are hundreds of similar examples of the same
sort; of amazing feats and highly perfected mathe¬
matical, astronomical and scientific attainments which
seem to have no beginning, but which, judging from
what we know, appear to have been transplanted,
fully developed, from some distant spot. No one,
however, has ever been able to find the spot or spots
whence they came.

If we assume that these races developed their cul¬
tures upon American soil and that they were of the
same stock as the Indians, then why have no remains
of such development been discovered? If the people
came as migrants from elsewhere, with their arts and
attainments already perfected, why has no one been
able to locate their origin? And if we assume that
these prehistoric races were indigenous to the New
World, where were they hidden during the countless
ages required to develop such astonishing cultural
perfection from a primitive savage state?

To be sure, many persons have attempted to trace
( relationships between these prehistoric civilized
Americans and various races of the Old World, basing
their arguments on some certain features of architec¬
ture, portraiture or other matters. Thus the claim
has been made that as pyramids are peculiar to ancient
Egyptian and ancient American cultures there is
some affinity between the two. Also that because the
Mayas and Aztecs were pictured with heavy, hooked,

17

The Origin of Man in America

Semitic-like noses they were of a Semitic race, and
that because the Aztecs’ calendar-stone recorded the
destruction of the world by a great flood, their ances¬
tors must have been Israelites, or at least natives of
the Biblical lands. In most of these cases similarities
may be accounted for by far simpler explanations
than racial relationships or migrations.

The pyramid is the easiest form of monument to
build and is the only form of structure of large size
which can be built without the use of staging, hoists
and tremendous labor. Moreover, the American
pyramids were totally different from those of the
Egyptians in design, type, workmanship and every
other respect, aside from general form.

Because the Aztecs recorded the destruction of the
world by a great flood—and previously by a fire—
does not prove that they were the lost tribes of Israel
or had any knowledge of Genesis. Such things
might be merely coincidences, or they might date back
to myths and fables of such ancient origin that they
were common to all races at the very dawn of human
existence. I do not mean to declare positively that
it is impossible that the ancestors of the Aztecs came
from Asia Minor, nor that the story of Genesis, as
recorded in our Bible, may not have been known to
them. Genesis dates back to remote antiquity,
and long before it was recorded on stone, clay tablets
or in any other form, it had been handed down by
word of mouth for untold centuries. It is not at all
impossible that, once upon a time, dwellers in Biblical
lands wandered away and that eventually some of
their descendants reached America. As myths and
fables, especially those of a religious nature, are

18 Old Civilizations of the New World

among the most persistently retained of all things,
it would be quite natural and in perfect accord with
scientific probabilities that tales similar to our Genesis'
should still prevail among widely separated races. On
the other hand, primitive people are always subject to
floods, and in volcanic countries eruptions are a con¬
stant menace. A disastrous flood or an eruption
would unquestionably be embodied in the mythology
or history of a race, and, knowing no land but their
own, such people would assume that their restricted
habitat constituted the entire world. Very likely,
were we able to translate all the Mayan inscriptions,
we would find such records. There is scarcely an
Indian tribe, and none that I have visited, whose
legends do not contain stories of a flood or an erup¬
tion or both. Did we not possess a written language
and were we not in touch with the rest of the world,
our descendants, several thousand years hence, would
include in their verbal history (and probably in their
religion as well) highly colored versions of the
Mississippi flood or the St. Francis Dam disaster, and
we can readily understand that the inhabitants of the
Mississippi Valley, were they primitive people with
no knowledge of the rest of the world, might assume
that the flood which was so disastrous to them affected
the whole world equally. Then there is the question
of just how much of our Bible, and especially
Genesis, is mythical and how much allegorical. And
if we accept the calendar-stone’s records as accurate
history in regard to the destruction of the earth by
fire and then by flood, then we must accept its record
of the world having once been destroyed by being
devoured by a jaguar. No doubt this impossibility

19

The Origin of Man in America

is purely allegorical, and hence there is no reason to
doubt that the other records are equally allegorical.

Finally there is the argument supported by the
Semitic-like noses of human beings depicted upon
Mayan, Aztec and even pre-Incan sculptures and
paintings. There seems to be a general belief that
these people all had receding foreheads and enormous
hooked noses because the majority of sculptured and
painted figures show these facial characteristics. But
we must not overlook the fact that the carvings and
paintings also show human beings with the heads of
beasts, with serpents’ heads, with impossible limbs and
digits, while the representations of well-known crea¬
tures and objects are so obviously conventionalized
and exaggerated, for decorative or symbolic purposes,
that no one for a moment would consider them ac¬
curate portrayals. Why then should we assume that
the human features are any more true to life? Why
should we take it for granted that the Mayas or
Aztecs had enormous hooked noses and yet scoff at
the idea that Mayan and Aztec jaguars had snakes’
heads, or discredit the “Earth-Mother” being half¬
human and half-serpent when we find them so repre¬
sented? Perhaps these races were notable for their
noses and foreheads, possibly such features were
peculiar to certain castes or families; or again perhaps
they had a symbolic significance, or possibly the
Aztecs and Mayas attributed such features to deities
or gods and thought it flattering to portray ordinary
mortals of renown with divine features. These races,
as well as others, practised the artificial deformation
of heads and thus produced the receding foreheads
as shown. As this practise unquestionably had a

20 Old Civilizations of the New World

symbolic or religious significance it is not surprising
that the artificially shaped head should have been
represented so extensively. Indeed it may be that
the heads were molded to conform to the accepted
idea of what a deity’s head should be, rather than the
other way about. Moreover, it is far easier to draw
or carve an expressive human face with a pronounced
nose than to represent a flat, straight or slightly
aquiline nose, and it serves to distinguish at a glance
between human and animal profiles even when com¬
plicated and confused by decorative details. As a
great portion of the Mayan and Aztecan carvings
were closely related to, if not part of, their written
records, it was most important that the human faces
should be recognized. Neither must we overlook the
fact that these races were past masters in the art of
depicting human expressions and emotions in profile
by means of a few lines, and without perspective or
shading. The beak-like nose lends itself admirably
to this type of art.

There is, in fact, nothing to prove that these races,
as a whole, normally possessed features of such strik¬
ing peculiarities. Among the living Aimaras and
Quichuas of Peru and Bolivia, there are certain indi¬
viduals with noses exactly like those shown on the
ancient sculptures. These are commonly known as
the “Inca noses,” and the possessors claim direct
descent from the Incas and call themselves Incas.
Perhaps the Incas did have such beaks, but if so the
Spaniards failed to record the fact, and portraits
made in the days of the conquest do not show them.
Moreover, the few known lineal descendants of the
Incas have quite ordinary, Indian-type noses. But

The Origin oe Man in America

21

it is easy to understand how, if the Quichuas should
develop a new culture and should regard these big-
nosed members of their tribe as royal, they would
doubtless perpetuate them in their carvings. If we
wish accurate knowledge of the predominating fea¬
tures of these ancient races we must depend more
upon the effigy jars and the statues than upon orna¬
mental and symbolic sculptures. In these we find
that the ordinarily accepted type of Mayan and
Aztec noses are far from universal or even common.
Many of these portraits and statues represent human
beings and deities with ordinary noses and features,
although the same deities and persons in carvings,
where in profile, have the huge noses and receding
foreheads.

Furthermore, the effigy jars and statues, which are
doubtless accurate portraits (aside from those which
are obviously caricatures), show that the people of
these races varied little from the present-day Indians
in their facial characters. This is as might be ex¬
pected, for the Mayas, the Aztecs and the Incans
were not homogenous races of one blood. In all cases
they were the result of conquest and confederation of
many races and tribes by an intellectually superior
people. No doubt these superior people, who formed
the ruling classes,—the priests, etc.,—were of a dis¬
tinct type from the bulk of the populations. It may be
that they were migrants from oversea, and their noses
may have distinguished them from the common herd.
The Incas themselves were, we know from the records
of the Spaniards, a much lighter-colored lot than their
subjects, and possessed almost Caucasian features.
Portraits made from life soon after and even during

22 Old Civilizations of the New Would

the conquest prove this, and the same is true of the
aristocracy of the Aztecs. The Mayan civilization,
the Chimus, the Tiahuanacans and others having
ceased to exist at the time of the conquest, we have
no records as to the personal appearance of the ruling
classes of these races.

All of this goes to show that the deeper we delve
into the past history of the American races, and the
harder we try to explain the mystery of their presence
in the New World, the more involved and confusing
the whole matter becomes, and the less reason there
seems to be to support any one theory of their origin.

Leaving all questions of relationships with other
races aside, there is no doubt that these prehistoric
American races far excelled every other race of their
times in many ways. No such accurate calendar as
that of the Mayas was ever devised until the revised
Gregorian calendar was adopted. No such accurate
astronomical calculations were made by any other
people of their times as by the Aztecs and Mayas.
No other people invented such a remarkable form of
writing as the Mayas. No other race, not even people
of the present day, ever erected such walls and build¬
ings as those of the pre-Incan races. No other race
ever carried out such Cyclopean works or such stu¬
pendous feats of stone-cutting as the Tiahuanacans.
No other race ever yet has woven—by hand or ma¬
chine—textiles to equal those produced by the ancient
Peruvians. And the famed Roman roads and aque¬
ducts seem scarcely more than child’s play beside the
marvelous highways and other engineering wonders
of the Incans.

CHAPTER II

CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND INFLUENCE

Man 's culture, in its broadest sense, began when
some prehistoric savage, slightly more intelligent than
his fellows, picked up a stick and used it as a club.
And cultural influence had its beginning when some
other savage, seeing the crude club in use and realiz¬
ing its advantages over hare hands, sought a stick for
his own use. No doubt the first man to use a weapon
took whatever was most convenient to his hand, and
the chances are that he made use of it by accident
rather than by design. But we may be almost certain
that the second savage who availed himself of the
other’s example, went to no little trouble to secure a
stick as much like the other in form, size, and even
in color, as was possible.

Superstition is one of the most deeply seated and
predominant characteristics of the human race, and
the lower in the scale of intellect and culture the man,
the more superstitious he will be. Because primitive
man is extremely superstitious and sees a super¬
natural or magical power behind anything that is
new to him or that he cannot understand, our second
savage would have used what little brains he had to
reason that it was the particular form or color of his
fellow’s club, and not its weight or strength, that
made it an efficient weapon. Here was the beginning
of cultural influence.

24 Old Civilizations of the New World

Once started along the lines of cultural develop¬
ment, primitive man advanced with rapid strides.
From a rude natural club selected at random to a
bludgeon carefully chosen was an easy step, and it
was almost as simple a step from the first rock used
as a pounder to well-made stone hammers and mauls.
Of course the evolution of stone implements and
weapons; the discovery and manufacture of bows,
arrows and spears; the development of fire-making,
the cooking of food, and the simplest attainments of
the most primitive savages, occupied an almost im¬
measurable period of time. But each step in the cul¬
tural ladder made the next simpler and opened the
way for innumerable other discoveries. It probably
took far longer for primitive man to discover how to
spin fiber into thread and make thread into rope than
it did for him to hit upon the scheme of weaving the
fiber into cloth. And it was probably a far greater
step, requiring much more time, from the first floating
log to the first crude dugout, than from the dugout
to a seaworthy craft.

During all the centuries, the thousands of years,
of evolution along cultural lines,'the tendency of prim¬
itive man would be to copy or duplicate every utensil
and artifact made or used by another. If by chance a
hunter was unusually successful and used a spear with
a head of greenish stone, or if his bow was of a peculiar
form, of a certain wood or was even ornamented in a
Certain way, his fellows would attribute his success to
such qualities and would strive to imitate them. Thus
gradually a general similarity of design, shape, type
and decorative motifs would result, and would be rec<

^ T-\ *1 OY til" 1*181

Cultural Development and Influence 25

one tribe might at times copy the utensils or the orna¬
mental designs of another tribe when for any reason
they considered them superior to their own, stall as a
general rule they would avoid doing so, particular y 1
the others were enemies. As a result, each tribe would
be recognizable by its culture, while at the same time
there might be strong evidences of one having influ¬
enced the other.

Aside from all this there would be the factors ot
environment; of climatic, meterological and geo¬
graphical conditions. All of these exert a tremendous
influence, probably even greater than we realize, upon
cultural development, as do the botanical, zoological
and many other conditions surrounding a tribe or race.
People inhabiting a mountainous district will not only
require certain types of utensils, implements and
weapons which are adapted to mountain conditions,
but will need those best adapted to the game, the cli¬
mate and the other necessities of the particular moun¬
tain where they dwell. They will develop their cul¬
ture, and even their personal peculiarities, in response
to urges not felt by tribes in a lowland or a level dis¬
trict. Human beings who dwell in a cold climate must
build up a culture which might he of little value in a
tropical land. Desert tribes have their own problems
which are quite distinct from those of races in a fertile
area. In a forested territory, tribal cultures become
very different from those whose homes are on open
plains. In districts where game abounds primitive
man finds it easier to gain a livelihood by hunting and
fishing than by tilling the soil, and in order to do so
he adopts a more or less nomadic life as he follows the
game about and develops his hunting implements at

26 Old Civilizations of the New Wobld

the expense of domestic utensils. The agriculturalist,
on the other hand, becomes a home-lover, and, having
settled in the spot best suited to his needs, he remains
there indefinitely, or as long as the soil will yield

crops, and develops his culture along utilitarian and
domestic lines.

Not only do these varying conditions of life and en¬
vironment influence the manner of living, the habits,
the customs, the artifacts and the dress of the tribes;
they have as well a tremendous effect upon the re¬
ligion^ the physical development, the physiognomy,
the skm color, the intellect, the imagination, the arts
itnd the lore of a race.

Yet, even though every condition and every neces¬
sity may be distinct, an agricultural tribe may borrow
or copy certain features of a nomadic hunting tribe or
vice versa; a mountain tribe may find certain features
of a plains or lowland tribe advantageous and may
adopt them; a seacoast tribe may possess some obiect
u ensil or decoration which an inland tribe imitates!
Hence we may find most unexpected and inexplicable
cultural influences cropping up in the most remote
districts and among widely separated and widely dif¬
ferent cultures.

Moreover, from the most remote times, primitive
man has been a born trader. Objects prized as med- '
icme, ornaments or for any other purpose, will be ex¬
changed between neighboring tribes and, passing from
ribe to tribe, may travel for incredible distances.
Ifius, objects of red pipestone, which occurs only in
he vicinity of the Great Lakes, are found in ancient

a _! far south as ChiIe - Bentalium shells from
the Pacific were in use by the Indians of the Atlantic

Cultural Development and Influence 27

coast. Jade from Central America was used by the
natives of Alaska, and quohog wampum from New
England found its way to the Indians of the Califor¬
nia coast. Aside from such natural objects, many
man-made articles were traded and passed from hand
to hand and from tribe to tribe over long distances.
It is easy to understand how a certain type, form or
ornamentation of a pot, utensil, weapon or other ob¬
ject, obtained by trade from some far distant race,
might be copied, either wholly or in part, and might
become typical of the local culture, although the in¬
fluence of the original tribe who owned the object
would be recognizable. Such influences, which do not
show any proof whatsoever of actual tribal relation¬
ship or contact, are very common and are still in prog¬
ress. While among the Guaymf Indians of Panama,
I used a cotton hammock woven by the Arekuna In¬
dians of the Brazil-Guiana border. The Guaynu
women became greatly interested in this, to them, new
weave, and in a few days they were busily making
hammocks the exact duplicates of mine. Probably, at
some future time, some ethnologist may publish a
monograph devoted to the relationship of the Guay-
mfs and Arekunas, and based on the similarity of their
hammocks. In Peru, many of the rugs and blankets
woven by the Andean Indians of Quichua stock are
decorated with distinctively Navajo designs. A per¬
son unfamiliar with the history of these might jump
to the conclusion that the Navajos and Quichuas
were related or that they had once been in contact.
The fact is that a mining man from New Mexico
brought some Navajo rugs with him when he found
employment at Cerro de Pasco. Wanting additional

28 Old Civilizations or the New World

rugs of a similar pattern, he employed the native In¬
dians to weave them, and the Quichuas, taking a
fancy to the new motifs, adopted them and have used
them ever since. Hence we should be chary of as¬
suming that there is any relationship or contact be¬
tween tribes merely because we find the artifacts or
culture of the one influenced by the other. Far too
often scientists regard such outside influences as of
great importance.

Neither does it prove, because a tribe is nomadic,
that it may not be related to or identical with a seden¬
tary race or vice versa. Many of our nomadic plains
Indians—-such as the Sioux—were formerly agricul¬
tural and lived m established villages. The Navaios
who cultivate the soil and rear sheep and cattle, are
near relations of the nomadic savage Apaches. Cer¬
tain tribes of Carib stock are wanderers and have no
settled homes, while others never move from their an¬
cestral districts. Such variations may be due to per¬
sonal characteristics, to accident, to the advent of
some new factor in their lives, or to necessity.

As a general rule, nomadic and sedentary races
are distinct, and it is the sedentary race that develops
e highest culture and attains to a civilization. We

Tver T ^ n ° madic Ame ™an trie

lilhed T a ^ lgh State 0f CuIture estab-
hshed a civilization. By nomadic, I mean tribes

theLtTfT fiXGd habitations ’ but a re constantly on

depend forT T^ ^ ° f game Up0n which they
seTtials M f °° d ’ d ° thmg and Enumerable other es-

of cufture^nd 7 "T ^ reached the hi ^st state

milaMT but r ta °^ re or rather

gr nts, but their wanderings were forced upon

Cultural Development and Influence 29

them, and they were by nature, by heredity and by
environment and development, sedentary people and
not nomads.

I do not mean to state that nomadic, hunting tribes
have not developed certain admirable arts and indus¬
tries. On the contrary, many of our American no¬
mads, such as the northern Sioux, the Apaches, the
Cheyennes, the Arapahos and others have developed
certain arts, such as buckskin- and bead-work, the
fashioning of weapons, basketry and even pottery
making, to a high degree. But by the very nature of
their existence they have not, and never could, become
obsessed with the idea of settling down, erecting per¬
manent towns and establishing orderly, law-abiding
communities until compelled to do so by the whites.

The matter of geographical, geological and meter-
ological environment appears to have little if any re¬
lationship to this fact. Among the prehistoric and
ancient American civilizations were those of mountain
tribes, desert tribes, forest tribes, swamp tribes, high¬
land tribes, lowland tribes, coastwise tribes, inland
tribes; tribes inhabiting hot arid districts; tribes
dwelling in steaming, rain-soaked, luxuriously ver¬
dant localities; tribes whose homes were among snow¬
capped peaks, and tribes who dwelt beside the sea.
Neither was it a question of naturally warlike or
peaceful natures. Some of the races whose civiliza¬
tions were most remarkable were warlike, valiant,
fighting people who carried on wars of conquest as
far-reaching and as successful as those of Caesar.
Others, who were fully their equals in culture and civ¬
ilization, were docile peaceful people who gave battle
only m defense of their lives and homes. Some were

30 Old Civilizations of the New World

gentle and kindly, fond of innocent games and
amusements and passionately fond of music, while
others were almost inhumanly cruel, and gloried in
bloodshed, human sacrifices, suffering and even can¬
nibalism.

But in every case they were people who possessed
a highly developed esthetic and artistic taste, a re¬
markable genius for organization, unlimited patience,
vivid imaginations, tremendous will power, an inborn
creative ability, and idealism in the extreme. These,
more than anything else, were the primary factors
which led certain races to attainments so far above
those of all other American tribes that it seems scarce¬
ly credible that they were of the same original race.

Probably the first distinct steps toward civilization
were the result of necessity. We know that in some
cases tribes have developed most unique habits, and
have gone far ahead of their neighbors and relations,
hrough the most fundamental instinct of man, that
of saving his own life. This was unquestionably the
case with the cliff-dwellers and the Pueblos of our
Southwest, races which reached a much higher stage
o culture than any other North American Indians,
and who, in some ways, approached closely to a civ¬
ilized state. No doubt the ancestors of the cliff-
dwellers were the cave-dwellers, and it is highly prob¬
able that the descendants of the cliff-dwellers are the
modern Pueblos. The Pueblos are not, however, one

” ? 01 r * c *’ b . ut belon S t0 a number of distinct
oeks, each having its own culture, arts, dialect and
customs, but all living in much the same manner, and
all with a culture and with customs obviously the di¬
rect result of a common necessity and environment.

Cultukal Development and Influence 31

Possibly the first cave-dwellers used caverns for
homes merely because they were the most convenient
or perhaps the only available retreats. But they soon
found that a cave, especially if in an inaccessible situ¬
ation, is far more easily protected against foes and is
a safer dwelling than a hut in the open. Being thus,
by their mode of life, fairly free from molestation,
and not being compelled to be forever fleeing from
enemies or engaged in warfare, they had more time to
devote to arts and industries and hence developed a
high state of culture. From cave-dwellers, living in
natural grottoes and caverns, to cliff-dwellers, living
in stone homes under protecting overhanging cliffs,
was a natural and easy step.

Had they not adopted this mode of life they un¬
doubtedly would have been wiped out by their less
cultured and more nomadic neighbors, or would have
been compelled to revert to a nomadic life and
savagery themselves, for even though the caves
were excellent protection, they were limited in size
and number, and, as the race increased, there would
not have been enough caverns to accommodate
them. Cliff-dwellings could be enlarged and added
to, and possessed another advantage in that their
inhabitants could maintain a watch on their en¬
emies. Even as it was, the villages, far up on the
precipitous mountainsides, did not always serve to
protect the cliff-dwellers. Often they must have been
taken by surprise, and many of their race must have
fallen victims to the weapons of their wild enemies,
for we find many of their skeletons with stone arrow¬
heads embedded in the bones. Sometimes the
wounded recovered, for the bones are healed about

32 Old Civilizations of the New Would

the weapons; others no doubt died slow and agonizing
deaths, for the injured bones are still rough and
splintered. As in nearly every case the position of
the arrow-heads shows that they were shot from be¬
low and behind, it is obvious that the cliff-dwellers
were firm believers in the old adage regarding the
man who fights and runs away.

Being averse to fighting unless compelled to do so,
dwelling in fairly safe and secure villages, the cliff-
dwellers, like their ancestors of the natural caves, had
a great deal of leisure to devote to the decorative arts,
to inventing and formulating complicated religions
and politics, to acquiring skill in weaving, basket¬
making, metal working, ceramics and other peaceful
industries. They therefore greatly advanced their
hereditary culture. Their ceramic ware was of a high
quality and was most artistically formed and deco¬
rated. Their textiles were well made and showed
great inventive and decorative ability. They made
marvelous basketry, and were amazingly skilful in
fashioning beads, ornaments and other objects of
turquoise. The softer metals, such as silver and cop¬
per, were worked extensively. They executed far
from mediocre sculptures and paintings on the rock
walls of their homes. Yet they were far from being
a civilized race.

From houses built of stones in crevices in the cliffs,
it is almost as easy and natural a step to pueblos, as
from natural caves to cliff-dwellings. The pueblo
house or village is in fact merely an artificial cliff or
cave-dwelling, possessing precisely the same defen¬
sive and protective advantages as either. By select¬
ing a butte or mesa with precipitous sides rising well

Cultural Development and Influence 33

above the surrounding territory, and by erecting
strong doorless houses thereon, and rendering these
inaccessible when desired by withdrawing the ladders
which gave access to the openings in the roofs, the
Pueblo Indians vastly improved upon the homes of
their cliff-dwelling predecessors’ tactics. The posi¬
tion of the pueblo enabled its inhabitants to have a
clear view in all directions for many miles; hence they
could not easily be surprised by an enemy. In order
to reach the village their foes would be forced to scale
the sides of the butte or mesa, and could readily be
held in check. And there was no chance of being as¬
saulted from above, as in the case of cliff-dwellings.
No fortress is absolutely impregnable, however,
and the Pueblos were frequently raided and at times
lost heavily in repelling attacks. That they were
comparatively immune, however, from successful
raids is proved by the fact that they continued to
live, prosper and increase in the heart of a district
peopled by such hereditary and savage enemies as
the Apaches and Navaj os.

But their very security prevented them from pro¬
gressing further and attaining a true civilization.
They were much the same in life and habits in the
days of Coronado as they are to-day, aside from out¬
side influences, and in all probability they had
changed little if any during many centuries previous
to the coming of the Spaniards. They had attained
a certain degree of culture best suited to their require¬
ments, they had reached a certain rung of the ladder
leading to civilization, and there they remained.

Unquestionably many other ancient American
races developed the nuclei of their cultures and their

34 Old Civilizations of the New World

civilizations along much the same lines as the Pueblos;
that is, through the necessity of self-protection. But,
unlike the Pueblos, they did not stop when they found
themselves fairly safe. Why some went so far ahead
of the others we cannot explain, just as we cannot
explain how or why any individual or any race out¬
strips another in advancement. Very likely it is a
question of imagination and artistic temperament, all
else being equal.

In fact, it is largely the possession of an imaginative
artistic sense that differentiates man from the lower
animals. A sense of art implies imagination, and
none of the lower animals, as far as we have been able
to determine, possesses the slightest imagination.
But even the very lowest types of human beings have
imaginations. Necessity may drive a man, or even
an ape, to invent or discover something new. By a
process of simple reasoning, combined with instinct,
experience and experiment, primitive men, as well as
apes, dogs, horses and other beasts, may and often do
make epochal discoveries which prove of personal or
even communal benefit. Accident may have been re¬
sponsible for the first fire kindled by man, and cloth¬
ing may have been the natural result of trying to keep
warm by wrapping bark, skins or leaves about the
body. A man seeking shelter from a torrential
shower by cowering under the leaves of a tree might
well reason that he could use the same leaves to pro¬
vide a shelter wherever he desired. A depression in
a clay bed may have contained water, and thus man
may have thought of using artificial hollows of clay
for receptacles; and a bit of the same clay, accident¬
ally baked in his fire, may have taught him that

Cultural Development and Influence 35

earthenware was better than sun-dried clay. But I
can think of no accident, no natural event, no pre-
' vious experience and no chain of reasoning that could
have suggested the idea of art to early man. We
have taught the higher anthropoid apes to behave
quite like human beings in some ways. They have
been trained to dress and to undress, to eat and drink,
to smoke, to ride bicycles; to understand what is said
to them; even to pronounce a few words. But no
chimpanzee, orang or gorilla has ever been taught to
draw a picture or to carve a stone or a bit of bone or
wood.

It was when man first began to realize that he had
an imagination that his true cultural development
was assured. It was his ability to picture things in his
mind’s eye, and his desire to express himself that led
him to draw his first crude pictures with a bit of char¬
coal or colored clay upon the walls of his cave. It
was the same urge that made him scratch figures of
animals and of his fellow men upon bits of bone and
deer antlers, and it was the same striving toward the
imaginary that taught him to sing, dance, produce
music, to invent religions and to evolve ceremonials.
As he progressed in other directions, as he acquired
new industries, new vistas opened to him and his
artistic sense developed as fast or faster than his
manual attainments.

In the case of some races, imagination and art had
their limits. Once the inner man was satisfied, once
his life, his home and his family were safe, once he
possessed a satisfactory home, tools, implements and
weapons, his incentive to go further ceased and so did
his artistic development. He was perfectly content

36 Old Civilizations of the New World

to confine his carving, his painting and his other ar¬
tistic talents to decorating his utensils, his weapons,
his garments and his person. He could visualize
nothing beyond what he required for personal com¬
fort and safety, and which he already possessed.
But in the case of other races, and other individuals,
irresistible longings and visions forever urged them
on. When these people discovered that they could
mold clay into any form, they devoted their talents
and their brains to expressing their imaginations in
the plastic material. When they discovered they
could chip stone and could carve and polish the hard¬
est rocks, they realized the superior and enduring
character of the new medium and became sculptors.
And when they learned the use of metals they devoted
all their energies to developing this new art. Their
minds told them that clay houses were superior to
those of leaves and thatch; from clay to stone build¬
ings was another step; and along with their better
living conditions and their desire further to improve
their lives these races developed mentally and physi¬
cally as well as economically. They learned that in
unity there is strength. To carry out their ambitions
and their art they must have time and peace, and to
secure these they joined forces with their neighbors,
formed alliances and worked amicably together for
the benefit of all.

Being imaginative, and of course superstitious,
they developed complicated religions and mythol¬
ogies, which became the chief inspirations for their
arts and their efforts. Just as their ancestors had
been pushed forward on the road to civilization
through the dire necessity of preserving their lives,

Cultural Development and Influence 37

so the requirements of the religions they had evolved
urged them on to still higher things. To placate the
deities they had imagined or invented, to win the
favor of their gods, to save themselves from dire re¬
sults which were the creations of their own minds,
they devoted their greatest efforts, their highest art
to religious matters. As is the case with all civilized
races, our own included, their utmost skill, their finest
workmanship, their best talents were devoted to the
erection of temples, monuments, idols and objects of
a religious or sacred character. And in every case,
despite what agnostics and cynics may say, the races
which had the most ritualistic religions, the most ex¬
tensive and complex mythologies and the deepest
spiritual faiths, were the races which reached the
highest development in arts, industries, organization,
science and civilization.

The Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans are out¬
standing examples of this incontrovertible fact in the
Old World, and in the ISTew World we have their
counterparts in the Aztecs, the Mayas, the Incas and
the pre-Incas. Probably no races in the history of
the world possessed such a fanatical fervor for re¬
ligion as these ancient Americans. Whatever the
fundamentals of their beliefs, whether they were sun-
worshipers or otherwise, their religions were complex,
involved and full of mysticism and symbolism. Their
gods, demigods and spirits were innumerable and
often had various forms and names. There were
deities for nearly every act, deed, use, purpose, ob¬
ject, art, industry and desire, and there were temples,
shrines, monuments, idols, offerings, sacrifices and
ceremonials to each and all. Practically all the arts,

38 Old Civilizations of the New World

industries and customs were built up about the
religions. Religion being largely a matter of im¬
agination, I still adhere to my earlier statement that
imagination was really the prime factor in their
civilizations.

CHAPTER III

PUZZLES AND PROBLEMS

One of the most fascinating features of the ancient
civilizations of America is the mystery that shrouds
them. At every turn, as we study these past civiliza¬
tions, we come face to face with problems that appear
to be impossible of solution. Innumerable theories,
suppositions and surmises have been offered, and
while many at first sight seem reasonable, yet when
we examine and analyze them we find that there is
scarcely one that fully meets the requirements. Con¬
sidering the vast amount of work and study which
has been devoted to the ancient American civiliza-
tions, it is simply amazing to find how little we actu¬
ally know. We do not even know the origin of any
one of the races which rose to such heights; we do not
know positively to what race or stocks they belonged;
we do not know when their civilizations or their cul¬
tures commenced, and, with one or two exceptions, we
do not know when they ended or what brought about
their downfall. We find ruins of magnificent pal¬
aces, splendid temples, great monuments, wonderful
idols, ornate tombs; cemeteries containing thousands
of burials, and evidences of a vast population, in a
certain area. But there is no history, no tradition,
nothing to show us who the people were or whence
they came. And there is nothing to indicate the steps
by which they reached their civilizations.

40 Old Civilizations of the New World

Another puzzling and still unexplained feature of
the past civilizations of America is the fact that they
were all developed in the tropical or semitropical
portions of the hemisphere. It has been a fairly well
accepted contention that the human race develops
more intelligence and attains a higher type of civiliza¬
tion in northern than in southern districts. This
would seem logical, for in cold climates man is faced
with many difficulties which are wholly absent in
warm climates. He must clothe himself to resist the
cold, he must provide well-constructed dwellings in
which to live, and he must labor almost continuously
in order to provide food for himself and his family.
He has every incentive to work, to develop mentally
and physically, and to establish permanent homes,
settlements, colonies and cities. With these tasks
come organization, a social system, laws and govern¬
ments. In the tropics, on the other hand, clothing is
unnecessary; the flimsiest shelter will serve to keep
off rain and sun; bountiful nature supplies food the
year round, and human beings have a tendency to
take life easily, to become lazy, to lose ambition and
to degenerate.

One would therefore expect that, all other things
being equal, the inhabitants of North America or of
southern South America, would have reached a high
state of culture and a civilization long before those
of the tropical and subtropical areas of South and
Central America. But for some reason which has
never satisfactorily been explained no tribe nor race
of North America, and no race of southern South
America, attained to a true civilization in pre-Colum¬
bian days, whereas the highest civilizations in the

PUZZLES AND PROBLEMS

41

hemisphere were developed in the hot tropical areas
of Central America, in the subtropical Mexican high¬
lands, and in the semitropical areas of South Amer¬
ica.

Numerous theories have been advanced to account
for this fact. One is that in the days when these civili¬
zations were first established the districts were not
tropical; that what are now temperate zones were
then frigid, owing to the Glacial period, and that
what are now tropics were then temperate. But the
most ancient carvings, sculptures and paintings of
these races represent human beings either nude or
nearly so; they show birds, reptiles and quadrupeds of
the tropics, and every known evidence leads to the
conclusion that there have been very slight changes
in the climate since the days when the civilizations
first started.

Another theory is that in the American tropics
man was not forced to devote his life to eking out a
bare existence, and therefore had leisure to develop
his mind, to occupy brains and hands with construc¬
tive work and to develop his artistic talents. But this
is contrary to all accepted ideas of the effect of the
tropics upon man, and is not borne out by present-
day examples of races dwelling in the tropics.

Still another supposition is that the races which de¬
veloped civilizations were driven southward and
northward by hordes of savages, until they found
comparative safety in the tropical jungles and sub¬
tropical mountains and deserts. But no one can offer
a suggestion as to why there should not have been
fully as many, if not more, savages in the tropics than
in the north or south.

42 Old Civilizations of the New World

It has also been suggested that the civilized races
of South and Central America were migrants, already
possessed of a high state of culture or a semiciviliza¬
tion, who reached the shores of tropical America and
that they never spread far from their original land¬
ing-places. Yet we have abundant proof that these
races, or at least the masses, were of the same race
as the other Indians, and if they arrived as migrants
from oversea then they must have reached America
ong ages before they had developed any material
cuhures It will therefore be seen that no theory put
torth fully covers the matter.

Although as I have said, no North American race
ever reached a high or true civilisation, still many
tribes reached a high state of culture within the
boundaries of the present United States, and several
of these were well started on the road to civilisation
when, for one reason or another, their progress was
checked. Omitting the most advanced of the various
Ind.au tribes, many of which, such as the Iroquois,
Had established complex governments and had formed
strong confederations approaching true common¬
wealths, we find such cultures as those of the mound-
builders, the cliff-dwellers and the Pueblos. Here
again are puzzles and problems we cannot solve. We
do not know who the mound-builders were, nor are
we any too certain of the identity of the cliff-dwellers,

tL th rJT bl ?, S Wh0 are con sidered the descendants
f the chff-dwellers. No mounds similar to those of
the mound-builders are known in any other portion of
the world, and many of the artifacts found within the
mounds are distinct from the work of any other
known American race.

Puzzles and Problems 43

On the other hand, many of the utensils, vessels,
etc., are very similar to those of well-known Indian
tribes inhabiting the same or adjacent districts in
pre-Columbian days, while the skeletons and skulls
of the mound-builders show no strikingly marked pe¬
culiarities, and are generally conceded to be of the
same race as the present-day Indians.

In many ways, however, the mound-builders at¬
tained to a far higher state of culture than any other
North American race east of the Mississippi. They
had advanced far beyond the Stone age. They had
learned to work copper, and they fashioned excellent
tools, weapons, helmets, ornaments and utensils of
that metal. They made extensive use of fresh-water
pearls, and they had developed the ceramic and tex¬
tile arts to an admirable degree. But they made no
large stone monuments or sculptures, built no elabo¬
rate stone structures, and could not by any stretch
of the imagination be considered civilized people.

It has been claimed by some writers that they were
an offshoot of or had been strongly influenced by the
Mayas, but there is no real evidence to bear out this
theory. Neither is there any proof that they were of
Norse ancestry or had been influenced by the Vikings,
as also has been suggested. Such theories, while ro¬
mantic and interesting, come no nearer solving the
mystery of these ancient people. We do not even
know why the mounds were made, or what purpose
they served. They may have been religious or cere¬
monial structures; they may have been primarily
burial mounds, or they may have served as refuge
places in times of floods. But the fact that they were
built in well-defined forms, apparently of a symbolic

44 Old Civilizations op the New World

character, would cause us to assume that they had
some sacred or religious significance.

All we actually know of the mound-builders is that
the mounds have existed for ages; that they were
there when the first white men penetrated to the dis¬
trict; that the Indians of the vicinity had no historv
nor traditions as to the origin of the mounds or their
makers, and that, as far as can he ascertained, the
mound-builders appear to have vanished suddenlv
and mysteriously from the face of the earth.

Of course there must be some natural and probablv
simple explanation of these seemingly insoluble mys¬
teries. Wars, pestilences, climatic conditions and geo¬
graphical changes, as well as eruptions and floods
have been suggested. But wars and pestilences sel¬
dom wipe out a teeming wide-spread population at a
single stroke, and such catastrophes as floods, earth¬
quakes and volcanic upheavals leave well-recognized
traces of their devastation.

Did we but possess any reliable recorded histories
of the races we might find therein the explanation, or
mts of the causes, which resulted in these wholesale
disappearances. But recorded histories, even when
they exist among the remains of the races, seldom
consist of anything more than calendrical or religious
matters. Of traditions and legends there are many
but as a rule these do not go back to the days of the
old civilizations, and, when they do, it is often obvious
hat they have been built up or manufactured to fit
conditions, and are no more than allegories. Possi-
, at t ^ ie time of the Spanish invasion, there were
egends or traditions which contained a great deal of
ruly historical material, but as a rule when any such

Puzzles and Problems

45

existed they were suppressed by the Christian priests
as tending to keep alive the belief in the pagan gods
.and rites of the natives.

In Yucatan there were the so-called Boohs of Chi-
lam Baldm which were written subsequent to the con¬
quest, and which constitute a sort of historical account
of the Mayas; but they are largely based on the myths
of the descendants of the Mayas, and their accuracy
is very questionable. The Popul Vuh of Guatemala
is another of these saga-like traditions of the Mayas
of Guatemala. Much of it is obviously allegory and
myth, but no doubt portions of the Popul Vuh con¬
tain a great deal of fact. The trouble is that no two
of such legends agree. In fact, if we were to place
much credence in these doubtful histories of the Ma¬
yas we would have to believe that not a single Mayan
ruin or city antedates the thirteenth century. And
we know positively, by the date-glyphs upon them,
that innumerable Mayan structures of the highest
type, and which were built when the empire was at
its zenith, were erected in the fourth and fifth cen¬
turies or earlier. We must therefore regard all other
details of these traditions and alleged histories of the
Mayas with distrust, and the true story of the rise and
downfall of the Mayan civilization remains as much a
mystery as ever.

Much the same conditions surround the Aztecan
civilization, although in this case we know too well the
reason for its destruction. Moreover, the Aztecs
were flourishing at the time of the Spanish conquest,
so that we have accurate accounts of many features
of their civilization which are unsolved mysteries in
the cases of other races. In addition, the Aztecs had

46 Old Civilisations of the New World

their pictographie codices which recorded much of the
early history of the race and its migrations. But
these, or at least such of them as are preserved, are
rather indefinite and were probably drawn centuries
after the events pictured took place, and were worked
up from legends and traditions. Many Aztec, or
better, Nahua, legends appear historical at first
glance, but if we study them we find that, like those
of the Mayas, they differ materially, and that in
every case they are most suspiciously like fanciful
allegorical myths.

Even the accounts of the early Aztecs and their
predecessors, the Toltecs, as given in the works of
Ixtlilxochitl, a Mexican chronicler who wrote soon
after the conquest, are greatly at variance ; but as he
undoubtedly merely recorded the existing traditions,
this is not surprising. According to one of his ac¬
counts the Toltecs reached a spot called Tlapallan
after voyaging southward from some unknown land.
A revolt of the chiefs against the Tlapallan king
forced them to flee in a. d. 439. After eight years
of wandering in the vicinity, they journeyed to
1 lapallantanzinco where they remained for three
years before commencing their subsequent wander¬
ings which lasted for one hundred years. The other
account does not agree in regard to the dates nor the
localities, but states that the Toltecs left their homes
m dhe year 1-Tecpatl (a. d. 387), passed Xalisco
and landed at Huatulco whence they journeyed to
Tochtepec and then traveled overland to Tollantzin-
co, the entire journey occupying one hundred and
iour years.

After this the accounts agree far more closely.

PtTZZLES AND PROBLEMS

47

They state that the city of Tollan was founded A. D.
566 at the present site of Tula, the Toltecs having
•been guided to the spot by their great magician
Hueymatzin (Great-hand). Six years were con¬
sumed in building the city which was known as the
“Place of Fruits.” Until the seventh year it was
without a ruler. Then Chalchiuh-Tlatonac (Shining-
precious-stone) was elected king. He reigned for
fifty-two years, and the people progressed rapidly.
His line continued until A. D. 994 when Huemac II
ascended the throne. He ruled wisely for a time,
but later his license and deceit caused a revolt.

Here the reasonable historical-like account sud¬
denly changes to a highly fanciful and allegorical
tale. It states that omens appeared in the heavens
and that the magician, Toveyo, collected the people,
and by the lure of his magic drum forced them to
dance until he led them to the verge of a precipice
where they fell over the brink and were transformed
to stones in' the canon below. The sorcerer also de¬
stroyed a stone bridge so that thousands of persons
fell into the river and were destroyed. Volcanoes and
earthquakes were brought into play and innumerable
supernatural occurrences took place (see Chapter
IX), finally culminating in the disruption of the
Toltecs. As so many of these traditions are obviously
fanciful, or at least allegorical, it is pretty safe to
assume that we cannot place any dependence upon
any of them, the more so as the names of the alleged
Toltec rulers are identical with those of Aztec deities,
and as each king, by some coincidence, reigned precise¬
ly fifty-two years, the Aztecan cycle which equalized
their calendrical and solar years.

48 Old Civilizations of the New Would

We are therefore forced to admit that we really
know nothing of the Aztecs’ origin, their race or
whether or not they were the descendants of the
Toltecs. For that matter, it is rather doubtful if
there ever was such a people as the Toltecs. The
late Mr. Charles W. Mead, of the American Museum
of Natural History, devoted a great deal of time to
investigating the so-called Toltecs, and decided that
the name was more geographical than racial.

Even less is known of the races of northern South
America, which developed civilizations distinct from
all others. We know practically nothing of the
Chibchas of Colombia and still less of the Manabis
of Ecuador, and we know almost as little of the
Chimus, the Nascas, and the pre-Incas of Peru. In
short, all we know about any of these races is that
they left most marvelous remains as proof of their
attainments.

Another mystery which no one can solve is the
absence of any known traces of ancient cultured or
civilized races in extensive areas where they might
most reasonably be expected. Throughout Mexico
and Central America, as far south as central Panama,
ruins and remains of such races are extremely numer¬
ous. But from central Panama to Colombia the
country appears absolutely barren of all signs of
occupation by civilized or even highly cultured tribes.
The few scattered remains that have been found here
consist of crude pottery, equally crude stone imple¬
ments, a few ornaments of gold, and a few rudely
scratched or cut petroglyphs. If, as has been claimed,
there was a northerly migration from South to Cen¬
tral America or a southerly migration in the opposite

Puzzles and Problems 49

direction, or both, then there should be remains of
these migrants in the area between central Panama
. and northern South America. Even if no such mi¬
grations ever occurred, it is a remarkable and inex¬
plicable fact that the widest, most luxuriant and most
attractive portion of the Isthmus remained unin¬
habited by highly cultured men when races north and
south rose to such heights.

Perhaps the greatest mysteries of all are how the
ancient civilized races of America performed their
amazing feats and accomplished such astonishing
works in metals and the hardest of stones. How they
fashioned minute, chased gold beads—often built up
of several pieces—no larger than the head of a pin;
how they cut, polished, perforated and carved topaz,
amethyst, garnet, agate, crystal and other precious
stones; how they worked friable obsidian into thin
polished rings; how they executed the most complex
and beautiful sculptures in the most refractory of
rocks; how they moved blocks of stone, weighing up¬
ward of two hundred tons, for miles across country
and used them in their buildings; how they wove tex¬
tiles far finer than is possible on any modern loom;
how they cut long tunnels through mountains; how
they invented the world’s most remarkable numerical
system; how they evolved a marvelous written
language, and how they performed countless other
feats which, with the known tools, implements and
devices they had at their disposal, might almost seem
to savor of the supernatural.

We cannot answer these riddles; as yet we have no
reasonable theories to explain them, and all we can do
is to accept the known facts, marvel and wonder.

CHAPTER IV

RELATIVE AGES OF AMERICAN CIVILIZATIONS

One of the greatest difficulties in solving the rid¬
dles of ancient American civilizations, is that we
have no definite knowledge as to their relative ages.
This is a much discussed matter upon which few
recognized authorities agree. In the case of the an¬
cient civilizations of Europe, Asia and Africa, it is
not difficult to establish, with reasonable certainty,
when they came into being, when they were in their
heyday and when they fell or were destroyed. Ex¬
perts can even state, to within a few years, when a
certain king or Pharaoh was horn, when he ascended
the throne, how long he reigned, when he died and
who his ancestors and descendants were.

Much of the material in the Bible is historical.
The Greeks and Romans, despite their conquests and
destructiveness were, fortunately, greatly interested
in history, and in the lives, habits and customs of
those whom they conquered or with whom they came
in contact, and they left us a vast amount of priceless
information. Most important of all is the fact that,
with few exceptions, the people who were responsible
for ancient civilizations in the Old World possessed
written or recorded languages which can be tran-
lated and deciphered. The famous Rosetta stone
gave the world the key to some of these, and others
have been worked out independently.

50

Relative Ages of American Civilizations 51

But in the case of the ruins of the prehistoric
temples, palaces and cities of the civilized races of
•ancient America it is a different matter. We have
no truly historical records antedating 1 the coming of
the Spaniards; and the Dons, as well as the earlier
discoverers of other nationalities, were far too much
engrossed in killing off the natives, destroying their
works, looting them of riches and ostensibly saving
their souls, to bother much with recording their tra¬
ditions, their histories or their more interesting
peculiarities. Now and then some old priest or gen¬
eral had his interest aroused and wrote, usually from
hearsay, regarding some outstanding features of the
civilizations he was helping to wipe from the face
of the earth. At rare intervals some unusually in¬
telligent and far-sighted individual spent a great deal
of time and took a bit of trouble to delve into the
stories of the aborigines and wrote lucidly of what he
had observed. But unfortunately most of these sin¬
cere and well-meaning writers were not trained
scientists and possessed a very superficial knowledge
of their subjects. They were inclined to accept
everything they heard at face value, to form con¬
clusions offhand, to judge matters in general by
isolated examples, and to assume that matters
which were every-day affairs to them were of no
interest to others. And of course, in most cases,
they were obliged to depend upon interpreters for
securing information. As a result, in all the numer¬
ous accounts written by Europeans from the discovery
of America until the complete conquest of the New
World, there is little unquestionable material of great
archeological or ethnological value.

52 Old Civilizations of the New World

Moreover, unlike the ancient races of the Old
World, few of the ancient civilized races of America
possessed written or otherwise recorded histories of
their own. There were traditions, myths, legends
and allegorical tales galore; but as far as is known
neither the Aztecs, the Mayas nor the Incans had any
definite knowledge as to the origin, the past history
or the ancestry of their races. The Mayas, it is true,
possessed a remarkable glyphed or written language
in which certain events were recorded. The Aztecs
used a very complete arrangement of symbols for
dates and other records, and they had their picto-
graphic codices which recorded their migrations in
their past. But with their usual misdirected zeal, the
Christian priests destroyed everything of a so-called
pagan character they could lay their hands on, and
among other things were most of these codices.

After years of patient study and investigations our
specialists can now decipher most of the Mayan and
Aztecan inscriptions and writings that are left to us.
From these we know that many of the most impor¬
tant works of these races were carried out in the fourth
and fifth centuries of our era. But that gives us little
if any information as to the age of the civilizations,
any more than the date upon one of our great build¬
ings would aid some future archeologist-—several
thousand years hence—in determining the date of the
landing of the Pilgrims or of the Declaration of In¬
dependence. And the most interesting, most mys¬
terious and most puzzling of the various prehistoric
civilizations of America left no intelligible glyphs,
symbols or inscriptions to give us the faintest idea of
their age or origin. We can therefore only guess at

Relative Ages oe American Civilization's 53

the relative antiquity of the early cultures and civili¬
zations of the New World, and can only form opin¬
ions from the meager information we have, from a
study of the ruins and remains, and from the fact that
certain remains overlie others of greater antiquity.

At times, it is true, we can obtain some idea of their
age by studying the decomposition of materials, such
as stone; by the accumulation of alluvial and other
soil, and by other matters of a similar nature. But
often this method is far from reliable. A certain
kind of rock may decompose far more rapidly in one
locality than in another. Even when two objects of
the same material are in the same area this may hap¬
pen, for in one spot there may be or may have been
more moisture than in another, or one of the stones
may have been protected by soil, sand or a covering
of some sort from erosion and climatic conditions
whereas the other may have been exposed continuous¬
ly. Or again, one of the objects, even if of the same
material, may be far more ancient than the other
although cut by the same race. The accumulation of
soil and debris also varies greatly in various localities,
at different seasons and at different times. Bains,
droughts, fires, winds, the presence or absence of
vegetation and a thousand other factors will greatly
affect the rate of soil accumulation.

Human remains, when found, are even more un¬
reliable as indications of the lapse of years. In such
countries as Chile and Peru, bodies interred in the
dry, rainless, nitrate-impregnated sand become dry
or mummified and last, unaltered, indefinitely. Even
textiles, feathers and woodwork are perfectly pre¬
served, under the same conditions, for thousands of

54 Old Civilizations of the New Would

years. In dry caves, especially if buried in bat guano,
mummies will also last forever, and to some extent
the same holds true of bodies interred in well-
constructed tombs. Even in damp warm climates,
and when buried in the earth without a protective
coffin or other receptacle, human skeletons will at
times remain in a wonderfully perfect state of pres¬
ervation for incredible periods, whereas, under what
are apparently identical conditions, others may com¬
pletely disappear in a few years. Within the under-
ground tombs of a mound which I excavated recently
in Scotland, human teeth, fragments of bones and
several practically perfect vertebra; were found well
preserved although the date of the burial is estimated
at about 2000 b. c., and the earth was saturated with
moisture. And yet, not far distant, graves of men
killed in battle in the seventeenth century did not
contain even a trace of human remains.

Unless we possess definite, established data as to
the rate of the soil accumulation, the decomposition
of certain rocks and of bones in a certain locality
we have nothing by which to go. Even with this
knowledge we cannot depend on estimates based on
such data, for we have no means of knowing that the
present rate is the same as it was a few hundred or a
few thousand years ago. We know positively that
climatic conditions in many localities have completely
altered within the past few centuries, or even within
the past few years. Areas now rainless, arid and
desert-like, may have been well watered, fertile and
covered with vegetation in the days when the ancient
civilizations were flourishing, or the reverse may have
been the case; and present-day wooded or cultivated

Relative Ages of American - Civilizations 55

areas may have been deserts. For all we can positive¬
ly assert, the present tropical areas may have been
temperate, or vice versa, and the surface of the earth
may have risen or fallen for considerable distances.

Neither does the present-day condition of a ruined
civilization mean very much in estimating elapsed
time. We must take into consideration not only the
climatic influences,—the wear and tear of the ele¬
ments, the changes of climate,—but also the effects of
vandalism, of treasure-seeking, of agriculture and of
other changes due to human agencies. Many fine
ruins, which otherwise would still be in splendid con¬
dition, have been almost utterly destroyed by man
within the last few centuries. When the Spaniards re¬
moved the metal keys which held the stone slabs of
Tiahuanaco in place, the buildings, which otherwise
might have remained intact for the next thousand
years, fell apart and became shapeless ruins. Count¬
less thousands of tons of ancient edifices, monuments,
idols and stonework have been broken up for railway
ballast, for making concrete, for surfacing roads, and
for constructing modern buildings. Many ancient
buildings and even entire cities in South and Central
America and in Mexico have been almost razed by
collectors, treasure-hunters and out-and-out vandals.
Still more have been ruthlessly destroyed in order
to make room for modern structures, roads, railways
or farms. In Peru a magnificent Incan burial-mound
was recently cut through by a steam-shovel when a
highway was being built between Lima and Callao,
and countless valuable archeological objects were
broken, ground to bits, buried under tons of material
and forever lost to science. And it is now proposed

56 Old Civilizations op the New World

that the remaining portion of this splendid mound be
removed in order to use it for filling an abandoned
gravel-pit!

About Cuzco, Peru, the former Incan capital, the
only remains of the Incan and pre-Incan civilizations
left standing are those which the Dons found im¬
possible or impractical to destroy, but by far the
greater number were tom down or were utilized in
building the Spaniards’ houses and churches.

As I have said, one of the most remarkable features
of many of the prehistoric American civilizations is
the fact that, judged by our present knowledge, they
appear to have had no beginning and no logical end¬
ing. Hence there is nothing with which to compare
them when trying to place their age. There are no
superimposed remains and no earlier, evolutionary or
more primitive remains of the same races. Such
abrupt beginnings and endings are the usual rather
than the unusual thing. It is the case with our mound-
builders, with the Codes of Panama, with the Mana-
bis of Ecuador, the Tiahuanacans of Bolivia, the
pre-Incan civilizations of Peru, and even with the
Mayas.

But when, as in certain localities in Mexico, Cen¬
tral and South America and elsewhere, we find the
remains of one culture superimposed on one or more
others, we can be assured that the lowest of the strata
is the most ancient, even if we cannot guess their
relative ages within several thousand years.

Also, we know that many of the prehistoric civili¬
zations of America are of almost inconceivable age.
At the very lowest estimate, we know that some of
them go back for fully five thousand years, and we

Relative Ages of American Civilizations 57

can feel fairly certain that the youngest of the lot—
that of the Incas—was at least a thousand years old
•when it was overthrown and destroyed by Pizarro.

Flourishing at the same time as this Incan Empire,
and also in Peru, was the Chimu civilization which
was much older; while antedating these and even at
the beginning of the Incan civilization, so long past
that there were no trustworthy traditions concerning
them, were the far more advanced and remarkable
pre-Incan civilizations. Probably that of the Tia-
huanaeans in Bolivia was the most ancient, but there
are reasons to think that even Tiahuanaco was of
more recent date than some of the cultures in Central
America.

There are several reasons for this assumption. The
Mayas in several respects had attained to a higher
state of civilization than any of the South American
races, which would indicate that their culture had
been in process of development for a longer period.
Also, geographically, meteorologically and geologi¬
cally, Central America is far better adapted to the
development of a civilization than is Peru or Bolivia.
And if we admit that there was a northerly and south¬
erly migration, as there probably was, or if the more
peaceful and cultured races were driven north or
south by more savage and nomadic tribes, then the
constricted area of Central America would have been
the logical spot in which they would have found ref¬
uge and a permanent home. On the other hand, if
we accept the theory that some of the original inhab¬
itants of Middle and South America were of trans¬
pacific origin, then Central America would have been
the most promising locality in which to search for

58 Old Civilizations op the New World

their remains and for traces of the oldest cultures.
Arguing with this hypothesis as a basis, we can scarce¬
ly imagine migrants from the warm, verdured, well-
watered Pacific Islands, or from southern Asia,
settling down on the arid, desert west coast of South
America, or on the equally forbidding plains and
deserts of our own Southwest.

Assuming that Central America was thus the first
settled portion of America, or even of middle Ameri¬
ca, it is obvious that, as the population increased and
the limited area of this narrowest portion of the hemi¬
sphere became more or less congested, there would
have been migrations to the north and south, and that
these migrants, from a district wherein the races had
already made progress toward civilization, would
have carried the germs of their cultures to other lands,
where, under wholly different conditions and environ¬
ment, totally distinct cultures and civilizations might
have been developed from the same stock.

Still another reason for believing that Central
America was the cradle of prehistoric civilizations is
the fact that in no other portion of the New World
were there so many distinct cultures within an equal
area. Throughout Central America, from Mexico
to Colombia, we find remains of innumerable ancient
races who had attained such advanced cultures that
they approached civilizations. Many of these ex¬
tremely ancient peoples had developed remarkable
arts and industries. Their ceramics were of the high¬
est quality; they executed marvelous stonework and
sculptures; they were experts in working gold, silver,
copper and other metals; they cut and carved the
most refractory of gem-stones, and in some of their

Relative Ages of American Civilizations 59

arts they have no superiors, if indeed equals, among
modern civilized races.

Very little is known of these earlier cultured tribes
of Central America and Panama. Judging by their
remains, they were of several distinct races, with little
if anything in common, for within a comparatively
short distance the ceramics, sculptures and other ob¬
jects obtained from one site will be wholly distinct
from those of another. Yet, in a way, all show cer¬
tain influences as if all had originated from a common
nucleus or had been influenced by some other race.

For convenience archeologists have classified these
various known cultures according to a more or less
arbitrary system based largely upon localities. Thus
we have the Yicoya culture, the Chiriqui culture,
the Terriba culture and so on. They are, however,
archeological puzzles, and we cannot even be sure
that the present-day Indians of the districts are or
are not their descendants. If so, then they have sadly
degenerated and have lost most of the arts of their
ancestors. But the chances are, that with a few ex¬
ceptions, such as for example the Mayan races of
northern Central America, the living Indians of these
districts are the result of mixtures of the cultured
races and the more savage tribes who, in all probabil¬
ity, were largely instrumental in destroying the cul¬
tures. These puzzling cultures have no real place
in a work devoted to prehistoric civilizations, but they
have a very important bearing on the origin of civili¬
zations in America, for they prove that racial cultures
had reached a higher and more diversified stage in
Central America than in either South or North
America at the same period. Hence, we can logically

60 Old Civilizations of the New World

assume that true civilizations were first developed
in Central America rather than in the areas to the
north or south. Finally, and most important of all,,
as tending to prove that prehistoric civilizations in
America were most ancient in Central America, is
the fact that the oldest remains, as far as can’be
judged, of a culture which may be classed as a semi¬
civilization have been found within the boundaries of
Panama.

This brings up the question as to just where we
may draw the line between a culture and a true
civilization. This is a difficult matter to decide.
Broadly speaking, and from an ethnological point of
view, every race and tribe that has learned to fashion
any article or artifact has its culture. The more ad¬
vanced the tribe, the greater its culture; but it is
difficult to say just where a high culture ends and a
true civilization begins. Every race that has de¬
veloped a civilization of course has its culture; but
that does not mean that a highly cultured race is
necessarily a civilized race. Even the term civiliza¬
tion is indefinite. There are and always have been all
grades of civilization, and there is no hard and fast
standard as to just what requisites constitute a
civilization.

It is not a question of art, for many savages have
a highly developed sense of art and show great
manual skill. It is not language, for some of the
most barbarous tribes have the most highly developed
languages, whereas highly civilized races may retain
a very primitive form of language. Neither is it
organization, for many tribes which can lay no elaim
to civilization are splendidly organized. Neither is

Relative Ages of American Civilizations 61

it government, the erection of permanent buildings,
a scientific knowledge, nor the invention of a written
or recorded language or history. Were I asked to
define the requirements essential to civilization, I
should say that when a highly cultured race builds
cities, establishes an organized form of government,
enforces a code of laws, recognizes education, per¬
forms engineering feats, has a social organization and
a religion, levies taxes, maintains an army, possesses
a knowledge of science, is self-supporting and en¬
courages arts and industries, it has reached a state
which may be considered civilized.

The Aztecs, the Mayas and the Incas, as well as
other races, fulfilled all these requirements and more,
and yet, judged by our present-day standards, none
of those races was civilized. But judged by the same
standards, neither were the Egyptians, the Greeks,
the Romans nor our own ancestors of the Middle
Ages. And no doubt a few thousand years hence
our descendants will look back upon the twentieth
century and pity us for our primitive uncivilized
state. Hence it will be understood that when I em¬
ploy the term civilization, it is only in a relative sense,
and as applied to all cultures which had risen ap¬
preciably above the primitive state.

According to the above definition, we cannot well
include the mound-builders, the cliff-dwellers or the
Pueblos among the ancient civilizations of America,
although the former were probably the most ancient,
highly cultured race in North America, while the
Pueblos come very close to possessing a civilization..

Probably the oldest of the highly developed cul¬
tures or semicivilizations in Middle America was

62 Old Civilizations op the New World

that of the Codes in Panama, while the earliest of
the true civilizations of Central America may have
been that of the Mayas or Toltecs.* There is consid¬
erable doubt as to which of these is the older, but
there is little question that the Aztec civilization was
the youngest of all, for the Mayan empire had
reached its zenith and had ceased to exist long before
the Aztecs attained their greatest height and power.

In the case of the prehistoric civilizations of South
America it is far more difficult to form an opinion
as to their relative ages. The Manabis of Ecuador
and the Chibchas of Colombia were unquestionably
very ancient; but we know so little in regard to the
former that it is impossible to say whether they should
be classed as civilized or merely cultured, and our
knowledge of the Chibchas is, if anything, even more
limited.

Of the better-known civilizations, it is generally
conceded that the Tiahuanacan is the oldest. Next
in point of age would be the pre-Incans, the Nascas
and the Chimus; but it is impossible to say positively
which of these antedated the others or whether or not
they were contemporaneous. But we may be quite
sure that the Incans were the most recent of all, and
that they occupied much the same place in South
America as the Aztecs held in Middle America.

•According to Joyce the Toltec culture was the result of Mayan
upon Mexican tribes.

CHAPTER Y

GENERALIZATIONS

Before entering into a description of the various
prehistoric civilizations of America, it may be well to
take up certain features which were more or less com¬
mon to all. Although the various prehistoric civiliza¬
tions were all distinct in details and each is easily
identified by its type, yet in some respects all were
similar and unlike any others in the world.

While they showed the widest variations in details,
in motifs, in conceptions, in workmanship and in
character, nearly all of these ancient civilizations were
remarkable for their stone sculptures and b ui l d ings.
Not only did the artizans carve the hardest of rocks
to a degree that would be a difficult task for a modern
workman equipped with the finest and most elaborate
tools of tempered steel, but, as far as we have been
able to prove, it was all accomplished without the aid
of any metal tools. No unquestionable implements
of steel or iron have ever yet been found among the
remains of these prehistoric civilizations, although of
course that is merely negative evidence, for steel or
iron soon vanish and leave no trace. And as we now
know that the ancient Egyptians possessed fine iron
implements, despite the fact that none had ever been
discovered until King Tut’s tomb was found, we may
yet discover tools of steel in some prehistoric Ameri¬
can tomb or ruin.

63

64 Old Civilizations of the New World

Innumerable copper or bronze tools and imple¬
ments have been found, but not one of these is capable
of cutting the softest stone, and the old belief that
these people possessed a lost art of tempering bronze
is purely mythical.

Not only did these prehistoric races execute the
most amazing sculptures in hard stone, often in such
materials as rock-crystal, agate, jasper, jade and
obsidian, but they apparently did so with ease and
rapidity. In some instances they seem, judging
by appearances, to have cut and carved hard rocks
for the mere pleasure of doing it, or to test their skill,
much as a small boy uses his new jack-knife. In other
cases the amount of rock cut away, the relief of the
sculptured figures, and the mathematical and geo¬
metrical accuracy of carvings are such that only an
extremely credulous person can believe the work
could have been accomplished by the use of stone im¬
plements. There are single blocks of stone weighing
many tons,—-blocks fifteen feet in length, nine to
ten feet in width and nearly three feet thick, elabo¬
rately sculptured and formed into monolithic gate¬
ways with portals cut with mathematical accuracy
through the great mass of stone.

There are immense buildings, temples, pyramids
and underground chambers of stonework, every
square inch of the surfaces of which is completely
covered with deeply cut, intricate carvings. There
are stone stools, seats and metates (grinding-stones),
idols and monuments ornamented with carved fret¬
work in most complicated designs; and there are
human and other figures carved from transparent
quartz, black friable obsidian and even gem-stones.

Generalizations

65

so beautifully cut and polished that they would be
a credit to any modern lapidary working with dia-
■ mond-dust.

Fully as remarkable as the stone sculptures of
these prehistoric people are the sizes of the stones
they used in constructing their buildings, walls and
fortresses. Though no two civilizations were alike
in their architecture and technique, yet all built on a
titanic scale and seemed to find it easier to quarry,
move and use gigantic masses than to use more num¬
erous and smaller blocks of material. Stones weigh¬
ing several tons each are everywhere, and, in many
instances, masses weighing from sixty to nearly two
hundred tons each were quarried, accurately cut and
faced, moved many miles and placed in position at
considerable heights above the earth. Immensely
high and thick walls were built of stones weighing
more than twenty tons each, and so accurately cut
and fitted, without the use of mortar or cement, that
even to-day it is impossible to insert a knife blade
between the blocks. If we were to judge these pre¬
historic workmen by their works we would be forced
to the conclusion that they were herculean giants.
But we know from the skeletons and skulls that they
were men no larger, no stronger than ourselves;
rather, if anything, a smaller and weaker race.

Another striking feature common to nearly all of
these civilizations is the prevalence of certain forms
and figures, which, although varying in details, treat¬
ment and conventionalization, are always easily recog¬
nized. One of these is the sun, which is not
remarkable inasmuch as all of these races were, ap¬
parently, sun-worshipers. Others are the so-called

66 Old Civilizations ,of the New Would

plumed serpent, the figure of a hunchback, a squatted
human figure, masked human faces, elephant-like
figures, and others. Judging from the wide-spread
use of these and the similarity of their salient features
it seems probable that all these diversified civilized
races were or had been at some time in direct com
munication with one another or with some other un¬
known race from which the symbolic figures were
borrowed.

In many of their industries, in their implements
and utensils, m their weapons and even in their
decorations and ornaments, there was often more or
less similarity. All wove textiles of hair, wool or
fibers; all used feathers extensively and showed great
skill and art m weaving them into clothing, mantles,
etc ; all were splendid wood-workers; all employed
gold, silver and copper and performed wonders in
working these metals. Nearly all held human sacri¬
fices,^ although they varied in form, in occasion
and m their significance. All were primarily agri¬
cultural. All had a most elaborate priesthood.
AH were immensely rich in gold, silver, precious
stones and other treasures, although, as far as we
know, the precious metals were never valued as we
value them, but were esteemed for their beauty, their
ductility and for purely ornamental purposes.

While by no means of a predatory character, all
of these races maintained large standing armies, well
armed, trained and drilled, and constructed forts and

defenses which were truly remarkable. In many
cases these buildings indicated a wonderful military
knowledge, and were not only placed at the most
strategic positions, but were designed with bastions,

Generalizations

67

salients, moats and even loopholes, and were fully
equal to European forts of the time of the conquest.

Nearly all these races had conquered and confed¬
erated many diversified tribes, and maintained
their commonwealths, their rulers, their priests, their
temples, their armies, their governments and their
religions mainly through taxes and tribute collected
over an enormous area. All showed a deep and pro¬
found knowledge of engineering, and carried out
feats of bridge and aqueduct building, irrigation pro¬
jects, road-making and transportation which would
present serious problems to the best engineers now.

Most, if not all, possessed a knowledge of natural
sciences and mathematics, well-worked-out calendars,
sun-dials or other means of computing time, and
some were well up in astronomy. All had many
species of cultivated plants and had developed many
distinct and superior varieties. They raised nearly
all the known varieties of maize, beans, potatoes,
squashes, pumpkins and melons; they had peanuts,
cacao, bananas, pineapples and many other fruits
and medicinal plants, and they had domesticated
turkeys, ducks, geese, pheasants and other birds, as
well as a number of quadrupeds, for so long that we
cannot with certainty identify the original wild
forms from which they were developed. In rainless
areas all had established elaborate irrigation systems,
and in districts where there was an excessive rainfall
they had installed canals, trenches, drainage-systems,
etc. In a general way their household implements
and utensils were very similar, although each tribe
or civilization had its distinctive forms, materials and
types of ornamentation.

68 Old Civilizations of the New World

While certain forms of weapons were peculiar to
one race or civilization, the majority of weapons were
strikingly alike in character. All made use of bows
and arrows, as well as blow-guns and darts. All used
clubs of wood or of wood with stone heads. All used
axes, mauls and hatchets of stone, stone-knives and
daggers, and all used spears. It is probable that all
made use of the spear-throwing-stick or atlatl, for it
is found in remains from Mexico to Chile, as well as
farther north. Although stone weapons and imple¬
ments were the rule, yet all or nearly all of these
people made use of bronze and copper weapons as
well.

Certain types of weapons were, as I have said,
confined to certain races or districts. Thus the
Peruvian and Bolivian people used a peculiar form
of mace or club with a star-shaped head of stone or
bronze, sometimes made with the radial projections
sharp and conical in form, at other times with one or
more in the form of cutting, hatchet-like blades.
These races also used slings (as do the living Indians
of the district) and boomerang-like throwing-cluhs.
On the other hand, the Mexicans used a peculiar
sword-like weapon with jagged obsidian teeth set
along its edges. But as a rule the offensive weapons,
and the implements of a peaceful character, were
very similar and differed mainly in the materials
used, the manner in which they were manufactured
and in minor details.

Strangely enough, the quality of their weapons,
tools and implements is no indication of their cultural
status or the advancement these peoples had attained
in arts and other matters. Those who had reached

Generalizations

69

the greatest heights in other lines of industry and
civilization often possessed the crudest weapons and
tools.

If this applied to weapons alone, we might assume
that as a race became more highly cultured, more
powerful and more prosperous, the necessity for
weapons decreased and all energies were devoted to
arts and crafts of peace rather than to those of war.
But we cannot account for it in this simple manner.
In the first place, all of these prehistoric civilizations
were surrounded and harassed by enemies, and they
found disarmament and universal peace as visionary
as they are among the nations of the world to-day.
Even had there been no enemies to fear, they would
have required weapons and fighting forces, for, as I
have said, they were made up of many tribes con¬
quered and confederated into a commonwealth which
was, in every case as far as known, held together only
by military power. Intertribal feuds and age-old
enmities smoldered everywhere, and civil wars and
revolutionary outbreaks were of frequent occurrence.
In the second place, even had there been no necessity
for devoting time and labor to efficient weapons,
there would have been every reason for having the
best of tools and implements. Yet, among the re¬
mains of some of these ancient civilizations which are
literally astounding for their stone sculptures, their
beautiful pottery and their textiles, we find no imple¬
ments except those of a most primitive and apparent¬
ly inefficient type. No living man, Indian or other¬
wise, could by any possibility duplicate the simplest
of their stone carving by means of the stone imple¬
ments we find in conjunction with them. It is not a

70 Old Civilizations of the New World

patience and ame - 14 is a hmn »

On one occasion I selected several hundred as
sorted stone tools and implements obtained from the
site of the Code temple, and, outlining a coarse
simple scroll upon a fragment of soft stone which was
a portion of an elaborately sculptured column, I set
our of my Indians to work upon it with the pre¬
historic tools. Although the four were unusuallvin
tell,gent and skilful men, and despite the faeftta
they worked and labored diligently for a week and

united dflrtsVTdf ^ St ° ne im P lements > their
mted efforts failed to result in any noticeable carv-

Yet atTr 11 m a reCOgnizable P atte ^ on the stone.
1 et, at this same site, there were immense columns

of basalt—some thirty feet in length by two feet or
noie square—accurately cut, tooled and carved - hufre
^ols of quartzite and diorite sculptured with wonder
fu fidelity and detail; blocks of red jasper It and
polished and ornamented with deeply cut designs
leaving figures m high relief, and not a few sculp¬
tured figures in which several inches of hard stone
had been cut completely away so as to leave open
fretwork-hke designs. This is by no means a unfque
c n unusual case. The Manabi culture of Ecuador
is remarkable for its immense carved stone seats or
vones, its sculptured slabs and monuments, and yet

C tyx ment worthy of the name is kno ™

Indeed even the stupendous works of the pre-

ohsbP^L th e Tiahuanacans must have been accom-
plished_ by the crudest, most primitive of stone
s, if we are to judge solely by what we find in

ri

Generalizations

the ruins. But, as I have already said, few intelligent
persons with any imagination can believe this to be
the case, and personally I feel certain that these
people knew and used steel, or at least hardened
iron—possibly meteoric iron. In fact, I cannot
understand how it could have been possible for them
not to have discovered iron. These races smelted and
worked copper, gold, silver and even platinum. It
is practically impossible to smelt copper or other
metals without obtaining an iron “button,” even
though it be very small, and the presence of even a
minute quantity of iron could not have escaped notice
as it would have been so much harder than the other
metals. Moreover, iron ore, of various kinds, is
abundant in all the countries where these civilizations
flourished, and it would seem inconceivable that
people as intelligent, as skilful and as practical as
were these races would not have learned to smelt the
iron ores about them.

Various savage African tribes smelt and forge iron
and produce excellent steel, and the Mayas, Aztecs,
pre-Incans, Incans and Codes were immeasurably
above any of these African tribes in culture and in¬
telligence.

But until steel or iron implements of unquestion¬
ably prehistoric origin are discovered in the ruins or
among the remains of these prehistoric American
civilizations, we can only wonder and surmise and
confess that we do not know and cannot explain how
such truly astounding feats were accomplished.

CHAPTER VI

THE POMPEII OP AMERICA

Couhd we but know the stories of these past eiviliza«
tions, we would no doubt find they had most tragic
and . most romantic histories. Unfortunately, their
stories are usually buried with their long-dead people
and only now and then do we find evidences that
enable us to guess as to their fate. Such is the case

with the Code culture which I discovered in Panama
in 1924.

Although I refer to it as a “culture,” yet it is so
far beyond other mere cultures in many ways that
it may almost be considered a civilization. In many
respects it is essentially different from all other
known American cultures; in other respects, it shows
remarkably striking similarities with such cultures
and civilizations as the Nicoya, the Maya and the
pre-Incan. Although nothing definite is known as
to its history, its age, the race it represents or any-
thing regarding it,—other than what we can surmise
from the objects and artifacts uncovered and from
a study of the remains,—yet there are good reasons
for considering it the most ancient of known advanced
cultures in Central or South America.

This assumption is based partly upon the decom¬
position which has taken place in much of the stone¬
work; partly upon the depth of the alluvial and
other deposits which have accumulated since the

72

73

The Pompeii of America

culture ceased to exist, and partly upon the fact that
many of the remains have been covered with volcanic
ash from an adjacent volcano where geological evi¬
dence gives us a fairly adequate idea of the time
which has elapsed since it was last in eruption. Leav¬
ing out the question of the decomposition of diorite
and other rocks at this locality, a question not as yet
determined, we have the best evidence of extreme
antiquity in the alluvial and other deposits. Prom
four to twelve feet of soil have accumulated since the
abandonment of the site by the unknown cultured
race which left us these mute remains. That alone
bespeaks an enormous period of time, for while we
have no definite data as to the annual rate of deposit
in the locality we can form some idea of the ages
that must have passed since the prehistoric people
first worshiped and offered sacrifices before their idols
at this spot. We know that the site has not been
occupied or in use since the arrival of Europeans,
and hence the thin superficial layer of mold that
covers the uppermost potsherds and remains must
represent the debris of at least four hundred years.
Brush fires have probably destroyed a portion of the
decaying vegetation which accumulated upon the
surface, and some probably has been carried away
by heavy rains. But even if we allow fifty per cent,
destroyed annually in this way, the accumulation
would not have exceeded two or three inches in a
century. At this rate it would require four hundred
years to deposit a foot of soil, and an accumulation
of ten feet would indicate that some four thousand
years have passed since the first monuments were
erected. I say “first” for it is evident that the site

74 Old Civilizations of the New World

was occupied and used through hundreds, probably
thousands, of years, for m many spots there are re¬
mains buried twice the depth of others, while some
are exposed at the surface of the earth. But in every

case the accumulation of soil about them is several
teet m depth.

The district where these remains were found, and

w!r u C T C i d ° n excavations for si * months, is a
level alluvial plain or llano lying between the Pacific

Coast and the mountains, a district cut by many
streams and rivers, broken by occasional knolls or
small hills, and, with the exception of the river
bottom-lands, sterile and wholly unfit for agriculture
It is therefore remarkable that a vast teeming popu¬
lation should have occupied this territory, especially
as the prehistoric denizens of the area were obviously
preeminently agricultural. The only explanation is
tha,t m the days when the prehistoric race dwelt here
the country was fertile, and that the tufa and ashes
trom the volcano’s eruption transformed it to a bar¬
ren, almost desert land. There is every evidence to
support this theory. Towering above the plains at
the feet of the cordilleras is the volcano of Guaca-
mayo The broken-down crater is still raw and
urned, the mountain still rumbles and emits steam
and hot water from its fumeroles, and over a great
portion of the llanos is a layer of volcanic ash which
has not yet thoroughly decomposed to form soil.
During the rainy season the entire district from sea-
coast to foot-hills is transformed into a veritable
swamp, the streams overflowing their banks and
flooding the llanos, while during the dry months the
plains become baked, the streams vanish or dwindle

75

The Pompeii op America

to mud-holes, the scanty vegetation withers, and the
district becomes a parched desert country.

My statement that this area was once inhabited by
a vast and teeming populace is based on several ob¬
vious facts: first, the immense number of burials,
ceremonial monuments, village sites and mounds;
second, the incredible number of potsherds, stone
artifacts and other manufactured objects scattered
over a wide area, and often forming deposits several
feet in depth; third, the enormous size and great num¬
ber of stone stelas, monuments and idols which could
have been moved and erected only by thousands of
hands working in unison; finally, the remains of the
culture have already been found over an area of ap¬
proximately five hundred square miles. By this I
do not mean that every square mile of the immense
area is covered with remains, but over this entire area
remains of the same prehistoric race occur, sometimes
widely separated, at other times thickly covering
hundreds of acres. Among the remains are kitchen-
middens, refuse piles, village sites, burials, cere¬
monial or temple sites and mounds. In places, along
some of the rivers, village sites extend for miles, and
the strata of discarded stone artifacts and potsherds
are from five to twenty feet thick. In other spots
burials are so numerous that it is practically impossi¬
ble to dig anywhere, over an area of many acres,
without disclosing a grave.

Ceremonial monuments of stone are numerous, and
there are hundreds of low rounded mounds full of
pottery and stone implements, which were probably
once surmounted by temples or buildings of some
sort. By far the most extensive remains, the spot

76 Old Civilization's of the New World

which so far has yielded the finest and most astonish,
mg objects, and the nucleus of the whole culture is
a huge temple or ceremonial site which may well’be
called the “Temple of * Thousand Idols.” The re
mams of this vast prehistoric place of worship cover
a level area between two rivers, an area more than one
undred acres m extent, although only a small por¬
tion—about ten acres—has been cleared of jungle
and partly excavated. This portion, howevei, ap!
pears to be the most important part of the whole and
was probably the central and most sacred part

... ^ ° U " b y hen ® rst visited the site was overgrown
with dense thorny brush and only the summits of

% 0 +l C ° Umi f were visibIe here and there, the clearing
°f the jungle and preliminary excavations soon re¬
vealed the arrangement and details of the place
Running north and south and east and west are rows'
o immense, hand-cut stone monuments or phallic
columns placed in an almost geometrically perfect
quadrangle. In the northern row there were thirty-
one of these, spaced from eight to twelve feet apart
and extending due east and west. One hundred feet
east of these and one hundred feet south, were two
immense basalt columns over fifteen feet in height
and nearly thirty inches square, both of which had
broken off and fallen to one side. One hundred and
y feet south of these, and running due north and
south were twenty-seven columns. Two hundred and
fifty feet south of these, and directly in line with them,
were twomiore huge columns like those already men¬
tioned. Three hundred feet west of these was a semi¬
circular row of smaller columns twenty-five in

number. Three hundred feet north of these and

three hundred and fifty feet frnm

® * 4 Columns

Ground Plan of Temple Site, CoeI6, Panama.

thirty-one columns, were twenty-one others running
north and south. Thus the three rows of stone monu¬
ments, with the two corner groups, formed a
quadrangle approximately three hundred by seven
hundred feet in area, an open court bounded by the

78 Old Civilizations of the New World

great, tooled phallic columns of hard basalt, many of
them elaborately sculptured, which, when the site was
in use, had been gaily painted, for traces of the pig¬
ment were still visible upon them. This in itself de¬
noted a surprising culture and spoke eloquently of the
herculean labor of the prehistoric inhabitants who
had cut, carved, transported and erected the massive
monoliths. But as work progressed and new discov-
eries were made the wonders of the place increased.
The columns in themselves were astonishing objects.'
Many of them were fifteen to twenty feet in length,
from sixteen to thirty inches square, cut and tooled
to rectangular, octagonal, pentagonal, cylindrical or
elliptical form, and sometimes covered with symbolic
sculptures and glyphs which appear to be characters
with some unknown meaning.

No stone of the same sort existed near the site, and
later investigations revealed the quarry on a hill sev¬
eral miles distant and on the farther side of a large
river. To have cut and quarried these stones,—even
though in the rough they were natural cleavages of
basalt, to have transported them overland for miles,
to have ferried them across the stream, seemed an al¬
most superhuman feat. To accomplish the same
results with modern devices and equipment would be
no small undertaking and would require months of
labor. Yet the prehistoric people who cut and
dragged the huge columns to this long-buried place
of worship must have been limited to hand labor, to
ropes and possibly rollers, to the crudest of tools.
Even though thousands toiled and labored, years, de¬
cades, perhaps centuries, must have been required to
transport the hundreds of monoliths, often weighing

The Pompeii of America 79

many tons, from the distant quarry to the temple.
One marvels at the sublime faith, the sincerity, the
belief in their deities that led these ancient people to
this task and that kept them at it for month after
month, year after year, until their temple was com¬
pleted.

At times, too, their efforts must have seemed almost
hopeless. Many of the finest columns were cracked
or broken in transit and still lie where they were dis¬
carded by the wayside. And after the great stones
were safely at their destination the work was only
begun. Even the smaller columns were so heavy that
eight or ten of my husky peons found it difficult to
lift or move them, and we can scarcely conceive how
or by what means the forgotten builders of the temple
raised these immense monoliths to perpendicular
positions and secured them firmly in place to form
the straight rows of monuments that, in most cases,
still stand.

Even more remarkable, more interesting, and in¬
dicative of even more inexplicable labor, are the in¬
numerable stone images which were brought to light
by the excavatory work. These, like the columns,
were arranged in regular rows running north and
south, and in all cases with the faces toward the east.
East of the group of twenty-seven columns were two
rows of these stone images. Six feet west of the same
row of columns was a second fine of idols, mainly of
animal forms. Six feet west of these was a row of
idols of human forms. Thirty feet west of these was
still another row of human figures, and six feet west
of these was another row of animal figures. It was
evident that originally the idols had been evenly

80 Old Civilizations of the New World

spaced about six feet apart, but through the asres
many had fallen, others had sagged to one side or the
other, many were broken and their fragments scat-
terd, while all which had been partly exposed above

the surface of the earth had been broken off and
eroded.

In the exact ce nter of the area, and buried under
niteen feet of soil, was a great stone column nearly
twenty feet in length, over two feet square, and most
accurately cut and tooled. The lower portion still
stood firmly perpendicular, but the upper portion had
been broken in three places and the three sections
were widely separated.

At the base of this central monolith were four stone
figures—one a man, another a woman and child, an¬
other a jaguar and the fourth a bird—probably sym-

?T B ° f * he four card inal points of the compass,
branding here by this central column with its stone
idols, one quickly grasped the ground-plan of the
entire site, for the idols and columns had been so
placed and spaced as to form radiating lines with the
central column as a nucleus, no doubt symbolizing
the sun and its rays. At the base of this central mon¬
ument, as well as at the bases of all the other columns
were large stones or boulders of semitransparent
quartz or red or yellow jasper, artificially cut and
polished and flattened on the upper side. Evidently
these had served the dual purpose of sacrificial altars
and supports for the columns or idols, for some were
elaborately sculptured about the circumference and
one was magnificently carved with a raised edge
worked into the figure of a giant lizard or alligator.
Moreover, on several were found remains of human

81

The Pompeii of America

skeletons—teeth and bits of calcined bone—among
balf-silicified charcoal.

Many of the idols or stone figures of this culture
are marvelous examples of prehistoric stone carving.
In size they vary from a few inches to seven feet in
height, and among them are representations of hu¬
man beings, birds, reptiles and practically every
quadruped of the country. Some show men seated
upon thrones formed of coiled serpents, upon chairs
or stools held up by smaller human figures, or stand¬
ing upon conventionalized animals. Several show the
peculiar hunchback figure that I have mentioned as
cropping up throughout Central and South America,
and one shows a Siamese-twin figure connected back
to back. On one a jaguar or puma is shown with its
front paws resting on a wounded man, while another
bears the figure of a jaguar holding a child in its jaws.
One human figure is represented with one hand strok¬
ing a long chin-beard which is strikingly reminiscent
of an Assyrian figure.

As a rule the human figures are shown with one
hand upon the stomach and the other on the breast,—
an attitude typical of Tiahuanaco figures,—but oth¬
ers have the hands resting upon the knees. Strangely
enough, not a single carved or sculptured figure is
represented with a vestige of clothing, the nearest ap¬
proach to garments being a cord with an amulet
shown about the neck of one of the largest and finest
idols. But in every case the figures have carefully
carved and elaborate head-dresses of a peculiar type.
We may assume that the race used no garments, al¬
though the presence of spindle-weights indicates that
they knew how to spin and probably how to weave.

82 Old Civilizations of the New World

In character of workmanship the idols vary greatly
and show not only a perfect chain of development in
the art of stone sculpture, but prove the tremendous
lapse of time which must have passed between the be¬
ginning and the end of the temple. Those figures at
the lowest level are crude, archaic and badly decom¬
posed, while those nearest the surface are splendidly
cut, elaborate in detail and are in perfect condition.
In every case the figures or sculptured portions sur¬
mount pedestals or columns, either cylindrical or
square, slightly tapered toward the base, and beauti¬
fully tooled.

The most astonishing of the idols is one bearing a
figure which is so strikingly and obviously elephan¬
tine that it cannot be explained away by any of the
01 dinary theories of being a conventionalized or exag¬
gerated tapir, ant-eater or macaw. Not only does
this figure show a trunk, but in addition it has the
big leaf-like ears and the forward-bending knees pe¬
culiar to the elephants. Moreover, it shows a load
or burden strapped upon its back. It is inconceivable
that any man could have imagined a creature with
the flapping ears and peculiar hind knees of an ele¬
phant, or that any human being could have conven¬
tionalized a tapir to this extent. To my mind there
is no doubt that the people who built this temple and
reached such heights of culture in Panama in pre-
historic times had either seen elephants, had domes¬
ticated some species of mastodon, or were in direct
and frequent communication with the Orient and had
heard descriptions of elephants from visitors from
Asia. Until a better explanation is offered I see no
other way of explaining the presence of this figure.

The Pompeii of America

83

One of the most remarkable features of this ancient
culture is the vast quantity of pottery that occurs
‘everywhere. The burials are filled, with it; closely
packed masses several feet in thickness surround
every column and idol, and over hundreds of acres it
is impossible to lift a shovelful of earth without turn¬
ing up potsherds. This accumulation of pottery
shows, like the stone figures, the development of the
culture and its great age. The lowest—from ten to
twenty feet beneath the present surface of the
earth—is of a crude, plain type, with little embel¬
lishment and usually decorated, if at all, with simple
incised designs or rudely modeled ornaments in the
forms of animal or human heads. Above this, and
especially near the surface, the pottery is of a quality
and beauty unexcelled in prehistoric American ceram¬
ic art. Indeed the beauty, the coloring, the motifs of
this Code pottery are the most surprising features of
the culture. One has but to glance at the specimens
obtained to realize to what a high degree of perfection
the ceramic art had been developed by these ancient
people. Some pieces might have well come from
Mexico, others are strikingly similar to examples
from Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, but by far the
greater portion are wholly distinct in every way from
anything hitherto known to archeologists.

Forms representing conventionalized birds, rep¬
tiles, quadrupeds and human beings are very com¬
mon. Others are of the “portrait” type so abundant
in Incan and pre-Incan pottery, and there are nu¬
merous figurines of birds, quadrupeds and human
beings. In shape and size the vessels range all the
way from tiny cups and bowls to large plates, pots

84 Old Civilizations of the New Would

and immense burial urns. Practically every known
form is represented, and in addition there are several
types peculiar to the culture. One is a square or rec¬
tangular form, another is a globular-bodied vessel
with long, gracefully tapered neck like a carafe, while
still a third is a teapot-like jar with spout and handle.
With very few exceptions, the vessels have annular
bases, and in every case (even the very largest ones
two feet or more in diameter) all are so perfectly true
that it seems impossible they could have been formed
without the aid of a potter’s wheel. In a number of
instances the designs painted upon the pottery are
most remarkable and apparently represent creatures
of a prehistoric type. One in particular might well
be intended for a pterodactyl or flying-lizard, and in
some respects shows the characteristics of the famous
“plumed serpent” of ancient Mexico. This plumed-
serpent motif reappears frequently and in many
forms, but as a rule the representations of animals are
very accurately drawn and are easily recognizable.
Regardless of the motif used or the central or pre¬
dominant figure depicted, the pottery of this remark¬
able culture is distinguished by the use of a scroll of
a peculiar and elaborate type. Sometimes the scroll
itself appears as a decorative design, in other cases it
is used in combination with other patterns, and often
figures of men or animals are made up of scrolls clev¬
erly wrought and combined to give the desired effect
of a conventionalized figure.

But the outstanding features of the ceramics as a
whole are the predominance of polychrome ware and
the colors employed. Not only do the ordinary col¬
ors, such as black, white, brown, ocher and red appear

The Pompeii of America 85

in endless combinations, but in addition, brilliant
blues, purples, soft lavender, pink, orange and other
"shades. Green, however, was not used, and was prob¬
ably a taboo or evil color, for green pigments are
common in the neighborhood.

Ornaments are scarce. A few clay ear-plugs, some
labrets or lip-pins of a polished black material, some
earthenware and stone beads were found, and I ob¬
tained one very beautiful nose-ring. This was a mag¬
nificent example of workmanship and was cut from
bloodstone with the two ends, where it clasped the
septum of the nose, finished with perfectly fitted gold
caps. Aside from these bits of the precious metal, no
gold was found, although in the graves of other pre¬
historic races of Panama gold ornaments are common.

Numerous stone metates were secured, but none
was of the ornate type abundant in other portions of
Panama and Central America, while the vast quan¬
tities of stone implements, weapons and other stone
utensils were of the crudest, most primitive type.
Comparing the wonderful pottery and splendid
stonework with the almost unrecognizable stone im¬
plements, one finds it difficult to believe that they
could have been produced by the same people. Most
of the stone implements are almost Chellean in type,
often merely chunks of stone slightly chipped or ham¬
mered into rude form, and the arrow- and spear-heads
are badly made, rough and crooked. Apparently,
however, the race was improving in the art of making
stone implements, for now and then axes, chisels, etc.,
were found which are fairly well shaped and have been
rubbed to a smooth surface. Still fewer were secured
which were beautifully made, but several bodkin-like

86 Old Civilizations of the New Woeld

and chisel-like tools are remarkable examples of
workmanship.

It seems almost preposterous to believe that a race
which had developed stone sculpture to such a high
degree should not equally have developed stone im¬
plements, if, according to accepted theory, the pre¬
historic artizans depended upon stone tools. To have
thus cut and sculptured the huge stone blocks into the
forms of human beings and animals such as those at
the Code temple site, would have required a lifetime
for each. Until other explanations and proofs are
forthcoming we must believe that this was the case,
or must confess that it is an unsolved mystery.

Unfortunately, the greater portion of all the pot¬
tery found had been intentionally broken—“killed”
or sacrificed, as is the custom of many living tribes
during ceremonial or religious rites or when interring
the dead. Although, as I have said, potsherds, stone
implements and broken stone utensils are scattered
over a wide area, they are particularly abundant at
the temple site and especially about the col umns and
idols. In many cases the earthenware vessels have
apertures made by stones thrown at them; frequently
the stones are found in the midst of the shattered ves¬
sels, and practically all the columns and idols bear
smears of color made by the clay vessels thrown
against them.

In many spots the fragments of pottery and broken
metates and implements are so densely packed and so
numerous that they form fully eighty per cent, of the
soil deposit, and so firmly have they become cemented
together by induration that they form a brick-like
mass six to ten feet in depth. The same is true of the

The Pompeii of America

87

burials. Evidently it was the custom of these people
to place their dead in a huge urn in a clay-lined grave
and to cremate the body by means of a fire within
the grave which not only burned the body but also
baked the walls and floor of the grave to a brick-like
hardness. Obviously, also, the friends and mourners
stood about and made offerings by casting their finest
pottery and utensils into the fire, for in nearly every
case the remains of the huge burial urns are sur¬
rounded by charcoal, and are completely buried amid
fragments of pottery vessels and stone utensils and
implements.

Apparently, however, secondary burials were at
times made, possibly these being reserved for certain
persons or certain purposes. In the rear of the semi¬
circular row of columns southwest of the temple, two
such secondary burials were uncovered. The skele¬
tons had practically disappeared, but impressions of
the bones left in the packed clay, and a few fragments
of teeth, revealed the arrangement. The bones had
been placed in small neat piles with the skulls facing
the east. One burial was on a legless metate, the
other on a flat-topped stone, and each was surrounded
by a number of miniature vessels, stone implements,
etc. Near these, traces of a third burial were fo un d
mingled with charcoal upon a flattened quartz boul¬
der at the base of a stone column bearing an incised
figure of a man with a feather head-dress, which
might indicate that the burial was that of a king, chief
or priest.

Although this temple site was no doubt the most
important place of ceremonials and worship of the
people, yet it is evident that ceremonials and sacri-

m Utilisations oe the New World
Sees, as well as offerings of uterun* *.
confined to this one spot At many Jo ’ *** not

area once occupied by this prehistoric ra^thlT ^
similar but smaller rows of stone nl ^ are
their characteristic altars, a few idols and 'IT ^
accumulation of sacrificed or “killed” ^ th 7 e same
smaller scale. In otherTori ^ ° n a

responded to a great cathed i ^, Da f U1 tem P Ie cor-
we re the equivalents of on ^ the smalIer si tes
chapels. ° f ° Ur VlIla ^ e c ^ ur ches and

these peop1 e b fivId St whIt tereStin f t0 kn ° W ^ USt how
beliefs; what sonol^ZV^Z^T'^
was their personal appearance. We cat'<Se ^

k ab0Ut SDd ! alZgh te cantT

y accurate opinions regarding them We

safely assume that they were mide thtT W C ™

given to much personal adommirn
were intensely religious and ve^ toduTtrious 5*
doubtedly they were aaTicnlt,n.oi , ‘ Un ‘

for there are few weapons of w! peace ' lovil1 ^
among the remains Hi f u, cl * are or tJle chase
sinkers, a and f”f““ ° f feI “ net

animal or fish bone and ‘ ' r °w-hcads, an occasional
shells prove that thev 1 , n ^ n ^ erous perforated chama
tent. y h " nted “ d fe hed to some e X -

;t i s d - »-

are represented in / • d d rope ’ for aI1 these
of the “ "TT " ceramics - wMe several

Moreover ttir I"* handfes of '“pe form.
«pe, but ;te acTu^vt t "' isted t0 re P resmt

exactly like modem rote.” * ” P ° f Stamds Wd

The Pompeii of Amekica 89

Probably they had hammocks, and as no remains of
stone dwellings have been found we can feel reason¬
ably sure that they dwelt in wooden or cane houses
with thatched roofs which were far better adapted to

the climate and country than stone houses would have
been.

From the arrangement of the temple we can feel
sure they were sun-worshipers, and from the number
and character of the idols or effigies we can feel equal-
y positive that they held many creatures sacred,
that they revered certain human beings, that they had
many deities, and that they believed in the plumed-
serpent god. The fact that they “killed” or sacrificed
their pottery would indicate that they believed that
in this manner they prevented evil spirits from enter¬
ing or abiding m them. Something of the same gen¬
eral character is practised by the Guaymf Indians of
northern Panama to-day. During their ceremonials
these Indians have numbers of small clay images rep¬
resenting animal and human forms and imaginary
eings. These are not idols, but serve as proxies for
such individuals as cannot be present in person, for
good-spmt-creatures,” and for kindly-disposed dei-

„ At the close of *e ceremony these are broken
or sacrificed” and cast into a sacred fire to prevent

ChapterX possession of the effigies. (See

If we substitute a stone column or a stone idol for
the sacred fire (although probably sacred fires and
possibly sacrifices were in progress at the bases of the
columns at the time) we can readily understand why
the prehistoric denizens of Cocte destroyed pottery,
implements and other objects during ceremonials

90 Old Civilizations of the New World

Or it may have been that the people considered the
sacrifice of valued possessions fully as efficacious as
the sacrifice of human beings or animals. No doubt
food was also sacrificed at the same time, for sea-
shells, fish and animal bones are abundant among the
broken pottery. As the temple or ceremonial place
was unquestionably used for many centuries it is not
surprising that such vast masses of the sacrificed pot¬
tery should have accumulated about the sacred idols
and columns.

As to the personal appearance of these unknown
people, we can scarcely do more than guess, although,
judging from the fidelity with which they depicted
other forms, we have no reason to think that their
drawings and sculptures of human beings were not
fully as accurate. If such were the case, then we can
easily picture their physical appearance. Judged
from this standpoint, they were tall, well formed,
muscular. Their heads were of the round type, rather
broad, with artificially flattened craniums in some
cases, and with features that are unlike those
of any known American race. Nowhere do we find
the heavy beak-like nose of the Aztec and Mayan
carvings. Nowhere are there the strongly aquiline
noses of the Incan and pre-Incan races. Nowhere the
oblique eyes of the Mongolian. The nose depicted is
always well bridged, straight or slightly aquiline, and
the nostrils are narrow. The eyes are full and
straight, the lips rather full and thick, the chin is re¬
ceding, and the eyes are set far apart. Whether
they were light- or dark-skinned we cannot say, but
we may feel sure that they wore their hair long,
braided or twisted into a sort of queue at the back.

91

The Pompeii of America

and either braided into elaborate form upon the head
or else covered with a cap-like, close-fitting and highly
ornamental head-dress.

Why, it may well be asked, did the inhabitants of
these villages and the worshipers at the temple dis¬
appear? What drove off or wiped out the teeming
population so completely that no descendants have
been left, that no traditions or records have remained
to tell us who they were or whence they came? What
was the catastrophe that destroyed the race and its
advanced culture? Unlike the majority of similar
questions which confront us when studying the re¬
mains of prehistoric American civilizations, and which
are still unexplained mysteries, the answer in this case
is simple. Only by the theory of a severej a most ter¬
rible series of earthquakes and an accompanying vol¬
canic eruption can we account for the condition of the
ruins and remains. Nothing but an earthquake could
have tossed the immense stone columns and images
about. By no other means could these have been
broken and the pieces thrown so far in various direc¬
tions. In many cases the largest stone monuments
are snapped squarely off, the bases remaining firmly
fixed and upright, while the upper portions are
thrown to one side and frequently end for end, or
with the middle portion farther from the base than
the top.

In many instances, too, the largest idols are found
turned end for end, with the base of the pedestal up¬
permost, while others have been broken and the heads
of the figures are found fully one hundred feet from
the bodies. Still more eloquent of terrific earth move¬
ments is the fact that the strata of hard tenacious clay

92 Old Civilizations of the New World

or “bed-soil” on which the idols and columns were set
has been lifted and moved so that in places it pre¬
sents a wave-like surface.

Moreover, in many places, a thin layer of volcanic
ash covers the remains at the burial and village sites,
and in one spot I obtained several entire vessels and
many potsherds from beneath a layer of ash more
than nine feet in thickness. This had obviously been
hot when deposited, for it had been burned firmly on
to the pottery.

Hence we can feel more than reasonably certain
that the destruction of the culture was the result of
an eruption of Guacamayo volcano which, as I have
said, is barely six miles from the temple site. Such
an eruption must have been accompanied by tremen¬
dous earth tremors and upheavals which probably
did more damage than the falling ashes and red-hot
mud. It is not difficult to imagine the terrorized peo¬
ple, who escaped from the first of the catastrophe,
rushing madly from their razed homes to their temple.
We can picture them striving to placate their gods by
wholesale sacrifices, by the mad destruction of their
most prized possessions at the feet of their idols. We
can visualize their utter despair as the tremors shook
the earth, the ground rose and fell, and the sacred
monuments and images were broken and thrown
down**

It is a rather remarkable fact, that the Aztecs’ legend or myth of the Tol-
tecs contains an account of a violent volcanic eruption near the city of Tollan
winch caused the lollan rulers to order wholesale sacrifices in order to placate

r Sods- Although similar eruptions have no doubt occurred and have de¬
stroyed prehistoric settlements in many places, the ancient Nahua legend and
the actual occurrence at Code are remarkably similar. It is not beyond the
bounds of possibility or reason that the story was based on the eruption at
ut ,i l , 1 , eve ? ts lt P r ° ves tllat a devastating eruption would have brought
•bout the wholesale sacrifices which we know occurred at the Cocl& site.

The Pompeii oe America

93

Possibly every member of the race was destroyed
by the blasting heat, the poisonous gases and the
blinding dust emitted by the volcano. But the chances
are that many escaped, for at the temple site there
are no indications that ashes or dust fell on that spot.
Undoubtedly, also, those who may have survived,
finding their gods powerless to help them, took
refuge in flight. No doubt they had canoes upon
the near-by rivers, and some probably pushed off in
these while others may have fled by foot to north or
south.. Scattered far and wide, they may have re¬
verted to primitive savagery and have completely
forgotten their past culture and their identity as they
mingled with other races.

But, on the other hand, they may have carried
their culture with them, and in other lands and
among other races they may have increased and pros¬
pered and built up new cultures and even civilizations
which, though distinct in many ways, yet showed the
influence of the arts and culture of Code. There
are various valid and logical reasons for suspecting
this, and, in other chapters, I shall mention them in
detail.

CHAPTER VII

THE MAYAS

Of ALL the early American civilizations, the Mayan
is probably the best known to ^he majority of people
Ihis is largely due to the attention which has been
given to the Mayan ruins, the immense amount of re¬
search work which has been devoted to the Mayas and
the extensive collections of Mayan specimens in the
various museums. In many ways, too, the romance
the mystery and the spectacular features of the
Mayan civilization appeal strongly to the imagina¬
tion. Despite all this, the average person really knows
little about the Mayas and their works and lives.

Although the Mayas are known to have occupied
a vast area of country, an area of over fifty thou¬
sand square miles, yet practically all scientific re¬
search work has been confined to a very limited area
m Yucatan, Guatemala and Honduras. Moreover,
the greater portion of our studies has been devoted
to the more spectacular features of this ancient civi¬
lization; to the temples, the palaces, the monuments
and massive stonework. Although this has resulted
in the accumulation of a vast amount of material
upon the Mayan culture, it has given us very little
information regarding the daily life of the people,
their customs, habits and social condition. What we
actually know of the Mayas is comparable perhaps
to what archeologists, several thousands years hence,
might learn of our lives and customs by excavating

94

The Mayas

95

the ruins of our cathedrals, churches, capitols and
public buildings and by studying our monuments
and statues. No doubt most of the Mayas were poor

Figure 1—Map of Southern Mexico and Central America, showing the

Principal Maya States.

in worldly goods and possessed little in the way of
archeological treasures. In all probability they lived
under much the same conditions as the semicivilized

96 Old Civilizations op the New World

Indians of the same countries to-day, and, sciemtifi.
eally speaking, the study of the large, impreZL
works of the race are far more important than re-
searches in scanty remains of the lower classes

associate the Mayan cMHza -
n ’ aS a matter of fa <* the Mayas
occupied the territory from southern Mexico through

Guatemala, Honduras and parts of Salvador, while
outposts or provinces extended as far south as Pana
ma, and as far north as the Mexican coast at Panuco
w iere the Huasteeas are a distinctively Mayan race
Moreover, Yucatan was not occupied by the Mavas
until many centuries after their civilization hS
amed great heights m other localities. In fact, the

ay t n ^ T 1V11Zatl ° n of Yucatan was all of the so-
called New Empire” which, according to dates in-
scnbed upon the monuments and buildings, was
established m Yucatan about 333 to 472 ad or in

TJTV 760 t0 J 9 ° 2 ° f the Ma ^ an calen dar, so
that the Yucatan Mayas were, comparatively speak¬
ing, quite modern. J F

Just who the Mayas were, whence they came, when
or where their remarkable culture first appeared, or
where their civilization was first developed are all
mysteries. It has been suggested that the Mayas
were survivors of the semimythical Toltecs, but the
o dest existing remains of Mexico show no resem¬
blance to those of the earliest known Mayas. Some
authorities have suggested that the nucleus of the
Mayan civilization was in Chiapas, owing to many
similarities between the Zapotecan and Mayan cul-
ures, but it is fairly well established that the former
borrowed from both the Mayas and Aztecs, and we

The Mayas

97

know that the Mayas were conquered and greatly
influenced by the Aztecs long before the arrival of
the Spaniards. In all probability the birthplace of
Mayan culture was somewhere in Guatemala, for
here we find the earliest known distinctively Mayan
remains, as well as the most widely disseminated and
varied Mayan dialects. In Guatemala alone there
are more than twenty-four Mayan dialects spoken,
the principal ones being the Quiche, Kakchiquel,
Zutugil, Coxohchol and Pipil.

We also know, from their inscribed dates, how
long the Mayan chronology had been established,
but we cannot tell how long the race may have been
civilized before the calendrical system was invented
or the written language evolved. Moreover, there
are many great gaps in the known or recorded history
of the Mayas. Thus, although we know approxi¬
mately the date at which the New Empire entered
Yucatan, we know nothing definite regarding the
Mayas’ doings or what became of them in Yucatan
during the interval of several centuries which elapsed
between that date and the founding of the holy city
of the Plumed Serpent (Chichen-Itza). But if recent
discoveries are borne out, and if the date glyphs
found have been correctly interpreted, it would seem
that the Mayas’ New Empire was first established in
southern Yucatan in the district of Bacalar (Mayan
Bakhalal), the first place mentioned in the Mayan
records known as the Books of Childm Baldm. These
give the date of the discovery of the spot as 472 A.D.;
but Doctor Gann has found remarkable ruins
in the same district which go back for more than a
century, before that date, or to about 333 ajd., and

98 Old Civilizations of the New World

which show indisputable evidences of a prolonged
period of occupation by a large population.

Long before the coining of Cortez, the Mayan
Empire or “Empire of Xibalba” had ceased to exist
as an entity, and the Mayan civilization was at an
end. The surviving Mayas were scattered, and the
people were divided into numerous tribal or feudal
states. I hey had little definite knowledge of their
ancestors, and the Aztecs had little more than myths
regarding the race they had once conquered, who had
left such stupendous, imperishable works buried in
the jungles of Yucatan and Central America.

But with the passing of years, and the slow, pains¬
taking studies of innumerable scientists, something
has been learned of the Mayas’ past history. We
know, from decipherable inscriptions and from the
remains, that the Mayas reached great heights during
their first or Old Empire; that they attained even
greater heights during their New Empire; that they
were conquered or at least brought under the domin¬
ance and the influence of the Mexicans, and that dur¬
ing the later periods of their existence, the Mayas’
arts, beliefs, customs and mythology showed the
Aztec or Nahua influences very strongly. Hence
the purest Mayan works are those which existed
prior to the Aztec conquest.

We also know that the Mayas were distinct from
the Mexicans or any other known American tribe,
although unquestionably Indians. In their build-
mgs, monuments, arts, religion and other respects.
they differed somewhat from any known prehistoric
race, although certain details and features of this
culture were strikingly like those of a still more

The Mayas

99

ancient culture in old Panama. (See Chapter VI.)

But in no other part of America do we find the
same types of architecture, the same or similar monu¬
ments, or, what is of greater importance, the same
or even a remotely similar written, perhaps I might
better say sculptured, language.

As was the case with the Aztec and the Incan
Empires, the Mayan Empire, or “Kingdom of the
Great Snake,” was a federation of many tribes rather
loosely held together and with many semiindepen¬
dent centers. Each city or town was an aggregation of
houses and buildings clustering about a nucleus con¬
sisting of the magnificent temples and palaces, much
as the towns of feudal Europe were built about the
local castles. The lavish, ornate and truly remark¬
able architecture was confined entirely to buildings
devoted to religious or royal purposes and not a
single example of a Mayan domestic building or
ordinary house is known. In all probability the
masses dwelt in flimsy thatched huts of wood, cane
or possibly adobe which have long since disappeared.
The people, like the Aztecs, were sharply divided
into the laboring and the aristocratic classes. And,
like the Mexicans, the poorer classes were scarcely
more than slaves while the upper class and nobility
lived in luxury, opulence and splendor.

Undoubtedly the Nahua invasion completely al¬
tered much of the life, many of the customs and arts,
and even the religion of the Mayas, and it probably
disrupted the empire. The remnants separated into
city-states, like those of Italy after the fall of Rome.
It was probably at this time that the Guatemalan
and more northerly Mayas separated. There is no

100 Old Civilizations of the New World

real proof that the Mayas ever formed another wide¬
spread empire, but there is evidence to show that each
city-state had its own king and that feudal wars and
quarrels were frequent, although all were more or
less subject to the priest-kings of Mayapan. These
priest-kings claimed direct descent from the Plumed
Serpent (Ivukulcan) and were largely instrumental
in raising the New Empire to its high state. On
the other hand, those who founded Chichen-Itza
were not priests, but belonged to the warrior caste
and were known as Itzaes. There is a great deal of

mystery surrounding the early dynasty of the
Mayas and the number of their kings is unknown,
but we may be fairly certain that the Quich4
monarchs were supreme in Guatemala, that, dur¬
ing the various civil wars of the Mayas, Nahua mer¬
cenaries were employed, and that these Mexican
soldiers of fortune introduced many arts, customs
and words of their own race.

Like the Aztecs, the Mayas recorded events by
codices, three of which are preserved. These are the
Codex Peresianus in Paris; the Dresden Codecs and
the Troano Codecs in Madrid. All of these deal
principally with mythology, but they have never been

The Mayas 101

fully translated. Unlike the Aztecan codices with
their pictographic records, these of the Mayas were
. in characters like the inscriptions upon the monu¬
ments and buildings.

The mythology of the Mayas was if anything
more involved and complicated than that of the
Aztecs, and they had borrowed almost, if not quite,
as many deities from the Nahuas as the Nahuas had
borrowed from them. As a result, there was a multi¬
plicity of gods, and while some are always easily
recognizable, others are so variable that it is uncer¬
tain whether their various representations are of one
or several deities. As no one has ever yet definitely
determined the identity of some of these they are
known to scientists by letters only. But there are
certain distinct, important and well-known deities
regarding whom we have quite detailed information.

Most prominent of all perhaps was the sun-god
known as Kinichahau, (Lord of the Face of the Sun)
h* Yucatan, and as Kinich Kakmo (Fire-bird or
Sun-bird) and identified with the red macaw or
Arara (Fire-bird). As the Mayas were indirectly
sun-worshipers, the sun-god held a very important
place in their mythology. In nearly all the Mayan
myths the origin of the race is solar, like that of the
Incas, and since the sun rises in the east all of the
Mayas’ mythical hero-gods, who were supposed to
have brought culture and civilization, were credited
with coming from the east.

The Plumed Serpent, known to the Mayas as
ICukuIcan,* an< ^ * n Guatemala as Gucumatz, was
fully as important a deity to the Mayas as to the
anc ^ the Mayan myths regarding him are

*Ejikul meaning __

means their greatest divinity. ^ 5y

&iJwh7 aMy i that h ° n0r Sh ° Uld g ° t0 H ™abku, the

the Mn and !T em f g ° d Wh ° WaS reco ^ed by all
snp . 1 ?-I a “ h ' lbes (although they had their own

f de J ties )’ who was regarded as the unity

M-mntr S and hdd mUCh the Same P Jace in thl

Mayan ichgion as our Almighty holds in the Chris¬
tian and Jewish faiths.

The moon-god was also a most important deity

men) irrt 0W T a i S , Iteama (Father of ^ ods and
men). He typified decay and the rebirth of life in

wasTah a ”f d W “. the deity of the west. His name
“Iiz fr01 ? hlS ° Wn legendary words to mankind:

T Z Ca T’ ltZ m mu y aV ' (* am the dew of heaven,

I am the dew of the clouds ),

thp C £r M0 °- id<a ? icSl w!th the Aztecan TIaloc was
he Maya ram-god or water-god, and at the spring

florescence young and beautiful girls were sacrificed

The Mayas

103

to Chac-Mool by being east into the sacred well at
Chichen-Itza. This was one of the few human sacri¬
fices if not the only one practised by the Mayas,
whose religion, far less cruel and bloodthirsty than
that of the Aztecs, called for self-sacrifice by blood¬
letting rather than the death of victims. Chac-Mool,
although usually represented as a recumbent figure
with flexed knees and with hands on his stomach, is al¬
so shown in paintings and carvings with a long tapir¬
like snout or nose, supposed to be symbolic of a spout
for pouring water. In addition to being the rain-god
he was the deity of the east.

Ekchuah, the black-god, was the special deity of
merchants and cacao planters, while Ixch’el was the
goddess of medicine.

The bat-god, Zotzilaha-Chimalman, who was sup¬
posed to dwell in a gruesome bat-cave, was the
Mayas’ god of darkness and was a sinister figure in
their mythology. Throughout Mayan mythology
and legends there is the ever-present conflict between
light and dark, the sun-god Kinichahau opposing
Zotzilaha-Chimalman. Many authorities believe that
the entire Mayan mythology and religion were
evolved from this eternal conflict between day and
night or life and death. Strangely enough, the
Mayas differed markedly from the Aztecs in that
they had a great dread of death, whereas the Aztecs
rather courted it than otherwise.

In addition to their true gods, the Mayas had four
semideities or genii known as bacabs who were sym¬
bolical of the four points of the compass. Their
symbol colors were yellow, white, black and red, and
they were named respectively Kan, Muluc, lx and

* civilizations of the New World

'' » r uxUiU

Cauae. In the Mayan mythology they supported «.«
four quarters of the sky or heaven.

Finally we have the weird, uncertain gods of
eodices which have been designated by letters

H

MW'

mi

m.

A-Dcath God. God3 ‘

B-Ham and Thunder God.

C-Chxl of NorLh Star.

D-ltzamrau the all-powerful sky God.

E-Maize God.
E-War God.
G-Sun God.
K-Wind God.

- ^ ibroa.

e god A is a human figure with .exposed back-
bone and a fleshless skull bearing the snail“
as a sign of birth. He also wears crossed bone^d

Mm shows a cor P se bead
. u, ° Se< i e ^ eS ’ a s<:u ll an d a sacrificial knife. He

ov^theT 01 ° f r h J d T’ ° imi Peath) ’ and P resides

over the home of the dead (west) or the setting sun.

God I? has a tapir’s nose. He is the most common¬
ly recurring of all, and is shown walking on water
and carrying torches, and is supposed to be a god of
farming; but perhaps is identical with Chac-Mool.

The Mayas :■» 105

•<

God C is the god of the pole-star, and is/&hown >
surrounded by symbols of the various planets,

God D is a moon-god; an aged man with shrunken
cheeks, wrinkled forehead, and having the symbol
of night. His glyph is surrounded by stars and
bears the numeral 20 showing the moon’s duration.

God E is a maize-god with an ear of corn as his
head-dress, and is probably the same as Ghanan or
Yum Kaax (Lord of the Harvest).

God F is probably identical with the Aztec god
Xipe, the deity of sacrifices, for his face and body
are covered with black lines to indicate wounds.

God G is the sun-god or the sun, with the sun-
glyph Kin, while god H is an unknown serpent-god.

I is a water-goddess; a wrinkled, shriveled old
woman with claw feet, and a snake on her head, and is
holding water-jars. She is probably a Mayan con¬
ception of the Aztec Chalchihuitlicue, and symbolizes
floods and destruction, as she is often accompanied
by a death symbol.

God K has an ornamented nose almost like a
proboscis, and the numerous representations of his
features on carvings led to the belief that the Mayas
had an elephant-headed god. He is thought to be
a form of Chac-Mool and is regarded as a storm-god.

L is an aged black man with toothless gums, per¬
haps a form of Ekchuah.

M is also a black god, but he has red lips and car¬
ries a roped package upon his head. He is supposed
to be the god of travelers.

N is supposed to be the demon-god, Uayayab, who
presided over the five “unlucky” days at the end
of the year. He is known as “He by whom the year
is poisoned.”

ULD CIVILIZATIONS OF THE New WORLD

O is an old woman goddess engaged in spinning
and 1S undoubtedly the goddess of domestic work

and perhaps of married women* ' *

God P is a frog-god with a blue background reurr
sentmg water. He is at times shown sowing see*
or farming, and ,s probably a god of agriculture

The Rear Head of the Earth-monster.

Many of these Mayan deities had more of a sym¬
bolic than religious character, and each week was un-
ctei the auspices of a particular deity.

Like that of the Aztecs and the Incans, the Mayan
calendar was based originally upon the lunar yL,
but it underwent many changes and alterations dur¬
ing its development. It first started with an arbi-
tayy count of two hundred and sixty days, but was
modified to bring ,t into accord with the solar year.

ns lesu .tec in a series of three hundred and sixty
day periods, to which were added five “unlucky days,”
hus bringing the computation to within one day of
the true solar year. But the underlying original
° f * wo hundred and sixty days still remained
unchanged. In calculating Mayan chronology two
mam points must alwavs he hnwiA

in TYlrn t

The Mayas

107

that the unit of all time calculation was the single
day. Second, that the Mayas in reckoning time re¬
corded only complete days. The basic element of
two hundred and sixty days in the Mayan calendrical
system was divided into periods of twenty days, just
as we observe a series of seven days in our weeks,
and just as we have a name for each of the week
days, so the Mayas had names for their twenty week
days. These were as follows:

1 Tmix 8 Lamat 15 Men

2 Ik 9 Mulue 16 Cib

3 Akbal 10 Oc 17 Caban

4 Kan 11 Chuen 18 Eznab

5 Chicchan 12 Eb 19 Cauac

6 Cimi 13 Ben 20 Ahau

7 Manik 14 lx

(In pronouncing Mayan names c has the sound
of Jc; x is like sh; i and a are broad; u like oo; ch
like ch.)

An y single day indicated by its sign or symbol
fixed its position in the period of twenty days, just
as we fix Wednesday or Thursday in our week count.
But with these day names the Mayas combined num¬
bers running from one to thirteen, so that the count
ran: 1 T mix , 2 Ik, 3 Akbal, 4 Kan, etc., to 13 Ben
when it became 1 lx, 2 Men, etc. Hence, since twenty
and thirteen have no common factor higher than one,
two hundred and sixty days (twenty times thirteen)
must elapse before the day 1 Imix (or others) reap-
peared in a time-count. This was known as the
“round” and was very important, being used as a di¬
vine or ritual calendar for divination purposes, and it
ran in a constantly recurrent cycle throuerh the whole

108 Old Civilizations oe the New World

Mayan date system. Eighteen of the “months” of
twenty days followed by the five “unlucky days”
formed the Mayas’ year of three hundred and sixty
days (eighteen months of twenty days). These
months were known by the following names:

1

Pop

7

Yaxkin

13

Mac

2

Uo

8

Mol

14

Kankin

3

Zip

9

Chen

15

Muan

4

Zotz

10

Yax

16

Pax

5

Tzec

11

Zac

17

Kayab

6

Xul

12

Ceh

18

Cumhu

Five Unlucky days or Uayeb

These names, together with numerals, in addition
to the day name and numeral, were used to fix a day’s
position in the year. Thus a date such as 4 Ahau,
8 Cumhu would correspond to our Wednesday,
January thirteenth, the name Wednesday filing the
position of the day in the week of seven days, just
as 4 Ahau fixes that day in the two-hundred-and-six-
ty-dpy period, while the thirteenth of January fixes
the day’s position in our solar year just as 8 Cumhu
fixes that day s position in the Mayan solar year.
But the two systems differ materially in the systems
of numbering the month days. Ours runs from one to
thirty (or thirty-one) but each Maya month, being
but twenty days in length, had its days numbered
from naught to nineteen, a fact that must always be
remembered when studying Mayan chronologies, for
the Mayas measured only passed or elapsed time.
Such a date as 0 Cumhu indicated that the month
Kayab was over, but that the first day of Cumhu had
not been completed. It was much like reckoning
time by a clock and saying ten thirty, etc., thus ex¬
pressing the last hour and the minutes of the new

109

” of
ays”
ixty
hese

tion
ay’s
iau,
lay,
the
just
six-
ixes
nhu
ear.
ems
e to
;ing
:red
i be
for
me.
nth
had
mg
ex-
xew

The Matas

hour, or as a man, once his twenty-first birthday is
past, is in his twenty-second year but gives his age as
twenty-one.

Since the day signs ran in a continual circle of
twenty, and as there were twenty days in each month,
each month of the year began with the same day sign
and each day sign occupied the same position in each
month. If it had not been for the five “unlucky
days” at the end of each year, the positions of the
day signs would have been constant year in and year
out. But the addition of these five days caused each
day sign to shift five places backward each successive
year. Hence each year (and each month in the year)
began with a day sign five days later than the pre¬
ceding year. And since twenty is divisible by five
four times, it follows that only four day signs could
ever occur as initial days in the Mayan year, and that
each day sign could only occupy four positions in

a month.

These were as follows:

Positions:

0.5.10.15

Ik

Manik

Eb

Caban

Positions:

2.7.12.17

Kan

Muluc

lx

Cauac

Positions:

1.6.11.16

Akbal

Lamat

Ben

Eznab

Positions:

3.8.13.18

Chicchan

Oc

Men

Ahau

Positions:

4.9.14.19

Cimi

Chuen

Cib

Imix

no uu> L/Iyilizatioks op the New World

Hence, in places where an inscription or date is
doubtful, the choice is limited to four, or when a day
sign is followed by a month date with a number that
is impossible, it is safe to assume that a mistake was
made by the sculptor.

Although the day signs returned to the same rel¬
ative positions every fourth year it was not the case
with their accompanying numerals. Thirteen divides
three hundred and sixty-five with a remainder of one,
so that each year began with a day sign one more than
that of the previous year. Thus as New Year’s Days,

1 Ik would be followed by 2 Manik, 3 Eb, 4 Caban!
etc.

And as the highest common factor of four and
thirteen is one, it follows that four times thirteen, or
fifty-two years, must pass before the same day and
numeral combination could recur in the same posi¬
tion in any one month. This period of fifty-two years
°r 18,980 days is known as the “Calendar Round,”
and where a day and month date, as 4 Ahau, 8 Cum-
hu, is given, the position of the day is determined
within a period of fifty-two years only.

But in addition to this Calendar Round the
Mayas had the “Long Count” based on a combina¬
tion of the calendrical system and the numerical sys¬
tem. The Maya numerical system was perhaps the
most noteworthy and remarkable mathematical
achievement of any known race and has never been
excelled even by Europeans. Unlike our system,

which is decimal, that of the Mayas was vigesi¬
mal s

When we write such a number as 265, we know that
the six has ten times the value of the five and that

±M.& 1.VJLAX-&S

the two has ten times the value of the six. But in
the Mayan system the figure six would have twenty
. times the value of the five and two would have
twenty times the value of six. So the same number,
265, if written in the Mayan system, would mean five
plus six times twenty plus two lames twenty times
twenty or 925 of our numbers. But when the Mayas
used numerals for reckoning time the two would
be considered as having but eighteen times the value
of the six because a figure in the position of the two
represented a number of periods of twenty times
eighteen or three hundred and sixty days, and was
therefore equal to the number of days in the eighteen
months not counting the unlucky five days. Hence,
when used for calendrical purposes, the combination
of such numbers as two, six, five as a time count would
indicate eight hundred and forty-five days. In the
time count the unit was the single day and a complex
numeral represented a sum of days grouped in pe¬
riods corresponding to the numerical system. The
name for a day was Kin or sun, and was expressed
by a number occupying the position of our units.
Twenty Kin made one Uinal or month indicated by
a number occupying the position of our tens. Eigh¬
teen Uinals made a Tun or year of three hundred and
sixty days with its numeral occupying the position of
our hundreds. Twenty Tun made a Katun with its
numeral in the position of our thousands, and twenty
Katun made a Cycle or Baktun occupying the posi¬
tion of our tens of thousands.

Thus:

114 Old Civilizations of the New World

followed by a sign to indicate a period of 5 days.
This is the 365-day year or Haab.

3 A period formed by combining 1 and 2 in which ,
each day sign with its numeral is fixed as falling
on a definite day in a definite month. This is the
Calendar Round of 5 years of 365 days each.

4 The Long Count established by a partly vigesi¬
mal numerical system made by combining day
and month dates in relation to the first day (4
Ahau, 8 Cumhu), the starting-point of Mayan
chronology.

To correlate these various Mayan dates with our
own dates is not by any means a simple matter, but
for ordinary purposes the following table of corre¬
lated Mayan and Christian dates has been adopted.

Long Count Katun B.C.

9.O.O.O.O. .. 8 Ahau 13 Ceh... 8 Ahau ... 94

9.I.O.O.O. . . 6 Ahau 13 Yaxin. 6 Ahau ... 74

9.2.O.O.O. .. 4 Ahau 13 Uo- 4 Ahau ... 55

9.3.O.O.O. .. 2 Ahau 18 Moan.. 2 Ahau ... 35

9.4.O.O.O. ..13 Ahau 18 Yax.. 13 Ahau ... 15

A.D.

9.5.O.O.O. ..11 Ahau 18' Tzec.. 11 Ahau ... 5

9.6.O.O.O. .. 9 Ahau 3 Uayeb. 9 Ahau ... 25

9.7.O.O.O. .. 7 Ahau 3 Kankin 7 Ahau ... 45

9.8.O.O.O. ..’ 5 Ahau 3 Chen. . 5 Ahau ... 64

9.9.O.O.O. .. 3 Ahau 3 Zotz.. 3 Ahau ... 84

9.10.0.0.0. ..1 Ahau 8 Kayab. 8 Ahau ...104
9.11.0.0.0. ..12 Ahau 8 Ceh... 12 Ahau ...124
9.12.0.0.0. . .10 Ahau 8 Yaxin. 10 Ahau .. .143

9.13.0.0.0. .. 8 Ahau 8 Uo... 8 Ahau ...163

9.14.0.0.0. .. 6 Ahau 13 Moan. 6 Ahau ...183

9.15.0.0.0. .. 4 Ahau 13 Yax.. 4 Ahau ...202

9.16.0.0.0. .. 2 Ahau 13 Tzec .. 2 Ahau .. .222

9.17.0.0.0. . .13 Ahau 18 Cumhu 13 Ahau ...242

The Mayas

115

Long Count Katun A.D.

9.18.0.0.0. ..11 Ahau 18 Mae.. 11 Ahau ...262
9.19.0.0.0. .. 9 Ahau 18 Mol.. 9 Ahau ...281

10.0.0.0.0. .. 7 Ahau 18 Zip.. 7 Ahau ...301

10.1.0.0.0. .. 5 Ahau 3 Kayab 5 Ahau ...321

10.2.0.0.0. .. 3 Ahau 3 Ceh.. 3 Ahau ... 340

In addition to all this certain “periods” have been
established 'which are useful in placing the relative
ages of Mayan works. In our years they are:

Old Empire

Archaic Period—Earliest remains to a.d. 104
Middle Period— a.d. 104 to 202
Great Period— a.b. 202 to 340
New Empire— a.d. 340 and later.

Remarkable as were the calendrical and mathe¬
matical systems of the IVfayas, even more astonishing
in many ways was their written or rather sculptured
language. Beyond any question it was the greatest
scientific achievement of any race ancient or modern,
and yet it was developed at a very remote date. Most
amazing of all is the fact that it would appear to have
sprung into use fully developed and perfected, for
no one has yet discovered an archaic or primitive
form of the writing, and the earliest known inscrip-
tions are of exactly the same type and character as
those of the most recent dates when the Mayas had
reached their highest attainments along other lines.

Yet we know that it was impossible for such a com¬
plicated, involved and elaborate system of writing to
have been conceived or invented in its perfected
state. Whether or not the system was employed for

116 Old Civilizations of the New World

every-day use or by the people as a whole, we cannot
say, for all known examples are of a more or less pic¬
torial character and are associated with decorative
paintings, carvings, sculptures, etc. Moreover, all
known Mayan inscriptions are of the so-called
hieratic type, or, in other words, they relate exclu¬
sively to ceremonial, religious or astronomical matters
or to dates.

Among many races, writing was divided into two
forms: one a more or less secret or mystical system
for the use of rulers, priests and wise men when re¬
cording important ceremonial or religious events, or
for the purposes of art, and known as hieratic. The
other form was for every-day use by the common
people and is known as demotic. Hence, as all
known Mayan inscriptions are of the former type, the
written records so far deciphered throw no light
whatever upon the ordinary lives and affairs of the
populace.

The fact that Mayan remains were covered with
inscriptions has been known for centuries, ever since
the conquest in fact, and for many years archeolo¬
gists and others have been studying them and striving
to translate the inscriptions. As a result, practically
all the Mayan records, sculptured or painted upon
their monuments and other remains, may be deciph¬
ered with fair accuracy, although frequently there
is some doubt as to the correct reading, while in many
cases the symbols have been so obliterated or injured
by time, the elements and other causes as to render it
impossible to secure a complete interpretation of their
meanings. The first real progress in deciphering
Mayan writings was made by Diego de Landa, Sec-

\S\

icorative
over, all
so-called
;e exclu-
[ matters

into two

rs of the

red with
ver since
archeolo-
l striving

tly there
in many

ada. Sec

118 Old Civilizations of the New World

ond Bishop of Yucatan in 1524-79, who wrote a
Mayan history in which he explained the Maya ca«
lendrical system and the date symbols. There were
also the Books of Childm Balam, written during the
first century after the conquest. These, written by
Yucatan Indians of Mayan ancestry, are chronicles
and histories of the race and throw much light on the
glyphs dealing with the Mayan calendar.

Far more progress in deciphering Mayan inscrip¬
tions has been made by modern archeologists, and
much that a few years ago was a sealed book has been
revealed. Largely, the great difficulty in deciphering
the Mayan records has been due to the fact that the
writing is of a hieroglyphic form and that there is
no related or similar system anywhere on earth. It
is a unique, solitary thing with no beginning, no loose
ends to unravel, we might say; and with no elemen¬
tary form. Moreover, there was no key or clue, like
the famed Rosetta stone, by which a hint of the
system could be obtained. Also, the materials used
by the Mayas in their writings were formal, consist¬
ing of stone, wood, metal, shells and pottery. Finally,
to make it even more difficult, the records are so
complicated and confused by decorative motifs and
elaborations that it is often impossible to distinguish
the true writing from meaningless ornamentations.

It must be confessed that the results obtained by
deciphering the Maya inscriptions are disappointing
to the layman. So far, as I have said, every im¬
portant inscription that has been read deals with
calendar dates or with comments upon and explana¬
tions of the data. Nowhere, among the thousands
of glyphs known, has one been found which tells us

roxe a
ya ca«
ere were
ng the
ten by
hronicles
it on the

ists, and
has been

that the
there is
arth. It
no loose
' elemen¬

t of the
ials used

s are so
itifs and
stinguish
Ltations.
ained by
(pointing
very im-
;als with

housands
[1 tells us

MOL

KAMKIN

MUAN

29)

£g

/mffwi

bgg

KAYAB

CUM HU

UAYEB

Figure 5—Maya Month. Signs,

E

The Mayas

121

anything of human interest, of the lives of the people,
their rulers, their habits or even of their history.
Possibly such matters were never recorded by writ¬
ings of any sort. Possibly they were recorded on
some perishable materials which have long since dis¬
appeared. Or possibly we may yet discover that
what we now regard as meaningless ornamental and
decorative work has a true significance and supplies
the missing historical records.

It is not, however, surprising that dates and ca-
lendrical records predominate. The Mayas had
reached a marvelous development in mathematics and
astronomy, and had devised a calendar more accurate
than any that existed prior to the modified Grego¬
rian, and these matters all required most accurate and
careful imperishable records. And as many of the
monuments, and even buildings, bore a very direct
relationship to calendrical events, it was only natural
that they should bear glyphs recording dates and
data.

The Maya glyphs are not, like the Egyptian and
other hieroglyphs, placed in columns or rows of
single symbols, but are grouped together and are
combined in rounded or rectangular forms known as
“cartouches,” together with essential elements or con¬
stants carrying the meanings, but which vary greatly
or may be largely obscured by decorations.

In every known inscription the cartouches are ar¬
ranged in more or less parallel columns, and in each
inscription the various cartouches are of equal size.
They are read two columns at a time, from the upper
left-hand column to the right and downward, ending
with the lowest right-hand second column, Figure 3.

22

The Mayas

123

As a rule, the bar and dot numerical glyphs are the
simplest to decipher, Figure 4, a to e. Next are those
of the day and month names of simpler forms, such
as those shown in Figures 5 and 6. Date glyphs, how¬
ever, are by no means easy to decipher, even when the
key to them is known. Three series of glyphs were
used in recording the Long Count periods, the third
system being a variety of the second. The first series

KATUN UINAL

consists of normal signs as shown in Figure 7 right-
hand side. The second consists of face signs as in Fig¬
ure 7 left-hand side. In the latter the Cycle sign is a
bird’s head, often with a hand as the lower mandible.
The Katun is a bird’s head often with a tusk or fang
in the corner of the mouth. The Tun is a grotesque
head usually with a skeleton lower jaw. The Uinal
is a head (probably of a frog) with a curl at the
angle of the jaw. The Kin or day sign is the head

Figure 8—Full-Figure Glyphs.

124

The Mayas

125

of the sun-god, sometimes with a tail, while the third
series consists of full-figure glyphs with the heads
only haring significance, and corresponding with the
second series described, Figure 8.

Three series of glyphs were used also in expressing
numerals. These corresponded to the normal, face
and figure glyphs of the period symbols. In the nor¬
mal series five was expressed by a straight bar.
Units below five or above one or more multiples of
five were indicated by single dots. The highest num¬
ber thus used was nineteen, owing to the use of the
vigesimal system, and was shown by three bars and
four dots. But as the Mayas regarded any vacant
areas as inartistic, whenever the dots were few (as
in Figures 4, a, b, c, d, e, etc.) they were usually
supplemented by crosses, crescents or dots having
no meanings, but serving merely as decorations.
This often makes it very difficult to interpret numer¬
ical signs with certainty, especially where a carving
is worn or injured. In addition to the dot and bar
signs, the face signs were used to denote numerals
as in Figure 4, but these varied a great deal. The
heads used for numbers eleven to nineteen are similar
in their main details to those for one to nine except
that they have fleshless lower jaws. The symbol
denoting ten is a head with a hand for the lower jaw,
while the full-figure numerical symbols differ from
the face numbers only in being elaborated by having
complete bodies. Another very important glyph is
that for Venus (Figure 9), for, like the Aztecs, the
Mayas observed the periods elapsing between the ap¬
pearances of Venus as the morning star, a period of
almost exactly five hundred and eighty-four days, so

126 Oil) CIVILIZATION’S OP THE New WOELD

that five of the planet’s appearances coincided with
eight years of three hundred and sixty-five days each.
As the twenty day signs divide five hundred and eigh¬
ty-four twenty-nine times with a remainder of four,
every Venus period ended with a day sign four days
later than the preceding one. But as four divides

EAST WEST

NORTH

SOUTH

VENUS

WANING WAXING
MOON

Figure 9.

twenty five times, only five signs could terminate the
Venus periods. Since the day symbols were accom¬
panied by the numeral symbols from one to thirteen,
and as thirteen divides five hundred and eighty-four
with a remainder of twelve, the terminal day of each
Venus period was distinguished by a number one less

The Mayas

127

than the preceding. Consequently sixty-five Venus
periods elapsed before the recurrence of the same day
and number for an ending date. Thus the sixty-five
Venus periods equaled two Calendar Rounds of fifty-
two years each or one hundred and four years, and
once in every one hundred and four years the Venus
Count, Calendar Count and Year Count all coincided
to a day, thus affording a perfect check upon year
time. Still other glyphs indicate the various planets,
such as the sun and the moon, Figure 9.
Still others were used to denote points of the com¬
pass, Figure 9, and there were still other glyphs for
colors, Figure 10.

Figure 10.

The various Mayan deities were aiso represented
by conventional symbols or glyphs, as well as by
carved likenesses. The glyph for Itzama the supreme
god, Kukulcan’s symbol, and the queer glyph repre¬
senting Ahpuch, the god of death, are shown in Fig¬
ure 11. All of these various glyphed symbols may be
varied considerably, thus adding to the difficulty of
deciphering Mayan inscriptions, and, quite frequent¬
ly, two or more may be combined. Thus a head with
a skeleton lower jaw, the symbol for ten, may have;

128 Old Civilizations of the New World

a crossed eye, the symbol for the head glyph of six,
thereby indicating the number sixteen. But the head
glyphs for eleven and twelve are not combinations of
ten and one and ten and two as might be expected,
but are shown by special forms of heads. Figure 4.

AHPUCH (GOD OF DEATH)

Figure 11.

Up to the present time no symbols of a true alphas

betical character have ever been discovered. Hence
it is assumed that the symbols were all phonetic or

The Mayas

at least ideographic in character. Thus in Figure
12A we have an ideograph for Kin, the sun or a day.
Figure 12B is the symbol for Yax or green which was
synonymous for early or first, and by combining these
two symbols as in Figure 12C we have the glyph
Yaxin, or first day or sun. The symbol for Ka or
Cay, a fish (Figure 12D), conventionalized and com¬
bined with the symbol for Tun, a stone (Figure 12
E), results in the year symbol Figure 12F. Finally,
to add to the difficulty of interpreting the inscrip-

CsD

E F

Figure 12.

tions, we often fi nd a cartouche symbol, such as Fig¬
ure 13A, associated with some element, as Figure 13
B, which may be affixed, prefixed, suffixed or super-
fixed as shown in Figure 13C, D, E, F, the position of
the element having some significance which still re¬
mains undetermined. In the same way the varying

130 Old Civilizations of the New World

of the relative positions of either elements or com¬
pounds composed of two or more symbols, each stand¬
ing alone, no doubt had an important meaning,
although we do not know what. Thus Figure 14A
is the ordinary symbol for east, the upper cartouche

being the symbol for Ahau and the lower for Fin,
both of which are day names. But when these are
combined as illustrated they do not indicate Ahaukin
as might be assumed, but denote Likin or east.
Figure 14B, C, D shows other variants of the same
glyph. But here again, as in the case of the position
of the elements in Figure 13, we find the “wing”
sign, as well as the Ahau glyph, variously placed with
respect to the Kin glyph. And as these cartouches
are always carefully shown in precisely the same way,
we can only assume that the positions and relation¬
ships of their various parts have great significance
and probably give a wholly different meaning to the
inscriptions.

Possibly, some day, all these puzzles may be solved
and all the Mayan inscriptions may be translated be-

The Mayas

131

yond all guesswork. But at the present time, we can
do little more than determine the dates recorded upon
the monuments, buildings and other remains of the
remarkable people.

No doubt the immense, elaborately carved stelae,
or stone monuments, which are so typical of the

A

Figure 14.

Mayan culture, were primarily date records, for we
know that those at Quirioigua, Guatemala, were
erected at definite periods of five Tims or years of
three hundred and sixty days. But it is fairly well es¬
tablished that these monuments were also of great re¬
ligious or ceremonial significance. Many were of
enormous size, up to twenty-four feet in height above
the earth and four or five feet square, and covered.

132 Old Civilizations of the New World

over every square inch of their surface, with elaborate
carvings. To carve these stupendous monoliths must
have required fully five years, and in all probability
much longer, so that each of the stelae must have been
designed, planned and started many years before it
was destined to be erected. Even more remarkable
in many ways than these monuments is the so-called
“Turtle Stone” at Quirioigua. This in fact is the
largest and most important single sculpture of the
Mayas which is known. Its inscriptions and carvings
have never been satisfactorily deciphered, but it is
known that it was of a religious and ceremonial char¬
acter, for it is covered with carvings depicting human
figures, animals and hieroglyphics.

From the dates upon these sculptures we know
that the Mayas flourished at Quirioigua from 373
until 540 a.d. or nearly five hundred years before
the Toltec conquest. Here in Guatemala are some
of the most remarkable and magnificent of the purely
Mayan ruins, mainly of palaces and temples, and all
of the typical Mayan forms of architecture. The
Mayas never discovered the true arch, despite their
attainments in other lines of engineering, but pro¬
duced a peculiar arch-like effect by “stepping out”
stones on either side of an opening in a wall until
the two sides met. As this type of construction could
not be carried out where the walls were widely
separated, all Mayan buildings were exceedingly
narrow, the widest arches being but sixteen feet. In
many, the largest halls and rooms are only a few
yards in width, and in several immense buildings
at Bacalar, Yucatan, the chambers are only three

133

The Mayas

feet in width. As it would manifestly be impossible
for human beings of normal size to occupy or use
such constricted quarters to any extent, we can only
assume that they were devoted entirely to ceremonial
uses.

Another striking feature of the Mayan buildings
is that many of the walls slope outward or inward
instead of being perpendicular. Frequently the walls
are elaborately decorated with sculptures, as are the
stairs, and in most cases they were originally painted
in gay colors and had their interior wall surfaces
magnificently frescoed. As a rule the roofs were sur¬
mounted by high, ornate and elaborate “combs” or
superstructures. These were sometimes of carved
wood, often of stone, and frequently of a cement-like
composition or stucco. The extensive use of stucco,
plaster and cement was a rather remarkable feature
of the Mayan civilization. Such materials were used
to some extent by other ancient American races; but
the Mayas carried the use of stucco to the extreme.
Not only did they employ it for covering stonework,
and for floors, but they also molded or cast it into
ornamental and decorative forms and carved it as
well. Many of the cornices and the elaborate figures
and sculptures which cover their buildings are of this
material, although at first sight they appear to be
genuine stonework. Oddly enough, too, the Mayas
apparently learned to carve stone before they carved
t wood, for some of the stonework shows traces of an
earlier development of art than the woodwork, the
latter being carved arid decorated in low relief pre¬
cisely like that of the stonework.

134 Old Civilizations or the New World

No doubt a far greater amount of wood was used
by the Mayas than is generally supposed, for even
the most durable of wood disappears rapidly in the
tropics, and it is only here and there, and at rare
intervals, that remnants of Mayan woodwork are
preserved. Usually these are in form of door lintels
which have been protected from the weather by the
adjacent masonry, and as a rule they are of sapote
wood, the most imperishable of all tropical American
hardwoods. As the Mayas were expert woodworkers
it is highly probable that the majority of their build¬
ings, as well as the dwellings of the common people,
were of wood construction. Although there is much
diversity in the details of Mayan buildings, yet they
are always easily recognizable. In practically every
case they were built upon artificial mounds or kus.
Often the kus bore only an altar, a shrine or a monu¬
ment, and as a rule the surfaces of the mounds were
faced with stone or stucco covered with elaborate
carvings and inscriptions.

Possibly the kus or mound foundation was designed
to prevent the temples and other buildings from be¬
ing flooded during the rainy season, but more prob¬
ably its purpose was to add to the buildings’ height
and make them more impressive. Owing to the pe¬
culiar “stepping-in” method of building, the Mayas’
edifices could not be made more than a single story in
height. In many instances the builders overcame this
difficulty in a very clever manner and erected build¬
ings which gave the impression of having several
stories. This was accomplished by erecting a build¬
ing in the ordinary manner, and then increasing the
height of the mound in the rear until it reached the

The Mayas

135

roof level of the first building. A second edifice on
this gave the effect of a superimposed story, and by
again raising the mound a third or even more step¬
like buildings could be added to the whole. In many
if not most cases, the mound or kus was higher than
the building which surmounted it, while the elab¬
orate “roof-comb” was as high again; the actual
building being quite low and squat but appearing
lofty and imposing when topped with its “comb” and
standing upon the stone-faced mound which seemed
a portion of the building itself. It is quite obvious
that all the buildings were planned and designed by
competent architects beforehand, and that the stones
were all cut and carved before erection, although the
finishing touches, the finer carvings, the painting and
the stucco-work were added afterward.

While the Mayas never equaled the Peruvians m
their engineering feats or the cyclopean dimensions
of their architecture, yet no other American race,
nor for that matter any race, ever approached them
in the complexity, the extent and the beauty of their
stone sculptures.

In every case the most striking feature of the Ma¬
yan architecture and monuments is the extremely
elaborate carving and sculpture that adorn them.
Everything, from the largest, most massive blocks of
stone to the tiniest ornaments, was sculptured and
glyphed, although the type of carving varied consid¬
erably in different localities. In the northern dis¬
tricts, bas-reliefs predominated, whereas in Honduras
caryatides and human figures are the rule, and at Co¬
pan, once the Mayan metropolis, there are exagger¬
ated bas-reliefs so deeply undercut that they appear

136 Old Civilizations of the New World

like separate images not entirely cut away from their
background of original rock.

The temple at Palenque in Chiapas is per¬
haps the finest example of prehistoric architecture

a. Stairway.

b. Pillar rested.

c. Vestibule.

d. Doorway to inner side chamber.

e. Doorway to inner main chamber.

f. Doorway to shrine.

g. Shrine.

h. Original position of mural tablet.

i. Masonry arch-brace.

3- Capstones of doorway arch.

k. Partition wall.

l. Steps for ascending roof-crest.

m. Middle floor and roof of roof-crest*

in the entire world, and yet this is but one of
eighteen magnificent palaces or temples and twenty
other enormous buildings in this mysterious, ancient
city that was discovered by Calderon in 1774. A re-

The Mayas

137

markable feature of Palenque is the subterranean
apartments containing three stone altars or tables,
which may have been used for sacrificial purposes, for
Palenque was a holy or sacred city and its sculptures
all represent priests or religious subjects with no
warlike or regal carvings.

Chichen-Itza was another holy city dedicated to the
Plumed Serpent or Kukulean, and its “Temple of
the Jaguars” surpasses any other known prehistoric
structure in its beauty of design, its impressive carv¬
ings, its magnificent coloring and its wonderful fres¬
coes. On either side of the main entrance is an
immense snake-god with the body of a serpent and a
serpent’s head. These were painted in red, white and
green, the sacred colors of Quetzal, as was the entire
fa<jade of the building, the roof of which was sur¬
mounted by an immense comb of magnificent open
stonework. Among the innumerable bas-reliefs,
which cover both the exterior and interior of the tem¬
ple, are many figures of bearded men. It has been
suggested that these represent priests of Kukulean
or the “Plumed-Serpent-god,” who was always
depicted with a beard, the supposition being that his
priests either wore real beards or donned artificial
ones. But is it not equally probable that these
bearded figures represent those mysterious “bearded
ones” who, according to Mayan, Aztecan and
Incan legends, visited America ages before the com¬
ing of the Spaniards? There is a remarkable fre¬
quency of bearded gods and figures in both
Mayan and Aztec sculptures and art, and at Itzamak
the figure of Hunpictok (commander-in-chief of
eight thousand flints) shows a mustached man where

138 Old Civilizations of the New World

it is carved on the stones of his palace. In many
places, too, human beings are shown with remarkable
flat-topped heads, and it is a most interesting and
suggestive fact that most of the monolithic statues
or idols discovered at the Code temple site in Pana¬
ma had precisely the same flat-topped craniums, and
that several had beards. (Chapter VI.)

Among the many ruins of Mayan cities and build¬
ings it is not unusual to find structures with such
small doors and chambers that they seem to have been
designed for the use of pigmies. Such is the famous
“Dwarfs’ House” at Uxmal. This is built in two
portions, one on the summit of a pyramidal mound,
the other lower down, and both are far too small to
have been designed for normal human occupants.
This has led to the theory that a race of pigmies once
inhabited the district. But as no other indications or
remains of a dwarf race have been found, it is far
more probable and reasonable to suppose that the
Uxmal Dwarfs’ House, as well as similar structures
elsewhere, was intended for the use of either spirits
or supernatural beings. At Uxmal there is also a
sacrificial pyramid so similar in design to the teocalli
of the Aztecs that in all probability it was of Aztec
origin, perhaps erected by ISTahua mercenaries for
their own use or perhaps built at the time of the
Nahua conquest.

The great number and the magnificence of the
Mayan temples, and their innumerable idols and
monuments, prove beyond question that the Mayas
were an intensely religious people. But apparently
their rites did not call for the wholesale and bloody
human sacrifices demanded by the Aztecs’ gods. The

The Mayas

139

statement that the Mayas never indulged in human
sacrifice is without foundation, however. Possibly,
indeed probably, sacrificial stones and human sacri¬
fices upon them were introduced by the Nahuas, but
certain ceremonials of their own demanded human
victims. At the festival of the spring florescence,
virgins were cast into the sacred well at Chichen-Itza
as a sacrifice to the rain-god Chac-Mool, as I
have already mentioned. Although to our civi¬
lized and modern minds the thought of hurling
living maidens to a terrible death in a yawning
black pit savors of unspeakable savagery and
cold-blooded cruelty, it was not so regarded by
the Mayas. No doubt the girls destined for
the sacrifice felt immensely proud of being chosen
by the priests for the purpose. It was the highest
honor that could be bestowed upon a virgin, and the
girls’ faith, and their firm belief that they were win¬
ning eternal happiness and that their spirits would
become the brides of the deity, made them willing
martyrs. No doubt they vied with one another for the
honor and were as keen in their competition as are
modern girls in a beauty contest. And as those des¬
tined for sacrifice were selected because of their
youthful beauty and purity, we may be quite sure
that they were regarded with the most intense jeal¬
ousy and envy by their less fortunate sisters.

At the time of this sacrifice, vast quantities of the
most highly prized and valuable possessions of the
people were cast into the well as offerings to the god.
Within recent years the well has been entered and ex¬
plored by archeologists in diving suits, and some of
the most priceless specimens of Mayan art and handi-

140 Old Civilization's of the New World

craft have been recovered. Until this was done the
story of the sacred well and its sacrificed maidens was
regarded as more or less mythical, but beneath the
black waters of the underground cavern were the hu¬
man bones, the golden and jeweled ornaments, the
weapons and artifacts, the countless objects which,
from time immemorial, had been sacrificed to the
rain-god.

Although fanatically religious, the Mayas, on the
other hand, were an industrious, practical people.
That they were industrious is obvious, for had they
not been the most industrious of races they never
could have performed such astonishing feats of en¬
gineering and of architecture, and could never have
accomplished such a vast amount of sculpturing and
yet supported themselves and their vast empire by
agriculture. Neither did their industry rim entirely
to religious matters or to display. They were thor¬
oughly alive to the importance of good roads, and
built a veritable network of highways linking their
cities with outlying districts. About their holy cities,
splendid roads radiated into the country to enable
pilgrims to visit the shrines, idols and temples with
greater ease, and Chichen-Itza and other Mayan
Meecas were connected by means of highroads with
practically every town or center of importance in
the empire. The practical side of their nature is also
proved by the heights they attained in scientific mat¬
ters. As I have said, they developed and perfected
an astounding written language; they devised a
most excellent calendar; they invented an arith¬
metical system superior to that of any other
race, and their astronomical and mathematical knowl*

The Mayas

141

edge was extraordinary. Towers with narrow slits
served for their observatories, and by means of these,
and by the use of gigantic sun-dial-like arrangements
of great stone monoliths geometrically placed, and by
what must have been most complex mathematical
problems, they were able to calculate the movements
of the heavenly bodies, to foretell eclipses, to com¬
pute the phases of the moon, the declination of the
sun, the time of the solstices, and in fact every as¬
tronomical event of any importance or consequence.
They also possessed an intimate knowledge of phys¬
ics and of geometrical laws and theories, and they
were marvelously skilled draftsmen.

In the Museum of the American Indian, Heye
Foundation, in New York, there is a large Maya jar
of red pottery which is elaborately decorated with an
involved and complex design in low bas-relief. At
first sight this appears to be merely an ornamental,
modeled jar. But it is far from being this. Instead
of being modeled in the plastic clay this jar is sculp¬
tured, and the design, when closely examined, proves
to have been worked out with mathematical accuracy
from a plane drawing or pattern. It required the
utmost skill of the most expert modern draftsmen,
working with the finest and most highly perfected
instruments, to transfer the design upon the jar to a
plane; and yet this was a simple, an almost childish
matter compared to the problem which faced the
Maya artist who carved the jar. From a design or
pattern drawn or cut upon a plane surface he had to
work out his design in three dimensions upon a sur¬
face of two curves, a feat which few living artists or
designers could accomplish. And yet it was done so

142 Old Civilizations of the New World

perfectly and with such consummate skill that no¬
where* throughout the finished carving* can the
slightest error or mistake be discovered.

In addition to all these attainments, the Mayas had
developed many purely industrial arts. They wove
beautiful textiles, they possessed wonderful dyes,
they made pottery of the highest quality, they were
expert metal workers, and they made paints and pig¬
ments of every color that were so enduring and fast
that they have withstood the elements, the wear and
tear of countless centuries, and are still as bright and
fresh as the day they were laid on.

However, the Mayas did not devote all of their
time to work. Like all the American races, they
were passionately fond of sports, games and contests.
That they considered recreations as highly important
is proved by the fact that they went to great labor
and expense to construct immense ball-courts. These
were used for a game similar in many respects to the
Basque game of pelota or jai alai. No doubt the
Mayas were as enthusiastic over their ball games as
Americans are over baseball. They probably had
their favorites, their champions,—perhaps the coun¬
terparts of “big-league” teams. And they unques¬
tionably gambled outrageously on the results of a
game and regarded their famous players in the light
of heroes, for humanity is much the same to-day as
two thousand years ago, and there are no racial nor
geographical boundaries when it comes to a question
of sports.

CHAPTER VIII

THE DESCENDANTS OF THE MAYAS

At the time of the Spanish conquest, the Mayas,
as I have described in the preceding chapter, had re¬
verted to their original status of independent tribes.
All spoke dialects of the Maya-Kiehe tongue; but
they differed materially in customs, habits and dress.
Some still retained much of their ancestors’ culture
and some of their civilization, and the Mayan religion
was almost universal, although often in garbled and
perverted forms. The great cities of the Mayan Em¬
pire were deserted, many were completely lost and
hidden in the rank jungle and forest growths of the
tropics, and the existing Indians had little more than
vague traditions and legends regarding their origin
and their past. Yet they worshiped their old gods,
using the ancient temples for their ceremonials
wherein the chilams or priests performed the rites.

They had not forgotten the ancient prophecy that
at the end of the thirteenth age white men would ar¬
rive from over the sea and would subjugate the race,
and they were no more surprised at the advent of the
Spaniards than were the Aztecs or the Incas. In
fact, they had been expecting them daily for years,
and regarded them in the light of foreordained and
semidivine visitors. They looked upon the Span¬
iards’ horses as supernatural godlike creatures, and
believed that the Dons controlled thunder and light-

143

144 Old Civilizations of the New World

ning which they used to destroy their enemies by
means of their guns. This belief was not surprising,
for in Mayan mythology, gods of thunder and light¬
ning played very important parts and, according to
the myths, often destroyed an enemy by a bolt of
lightning. (See Chapter IX; Huitzilopochtli.) Even
when they became quite familiar with the Spaniards
and their steeds, and learned that the former were
mortal, they still believed the horses divine.

Thus when Cortez was obliged to leave his unser¬
viceable horse at Peten Itza, and the animal died
while in the Indians’ care, the terrified natives made
an image or statue of the creature and called it Itz-
min Chac (Thunder-and-lightning). It is quite pos¬
sible, however, that in this case it was dread of Cortez
rather than religious fervor which led the Indians to
carve the stone horse, perhaps believing, in their sim¬
ple minds, that the proxy of the steed would serve to
hoodwink the Don into believing his horse still lived,
and thus avert his anger. At any rate, the sculp¬
tured horse, Itzmin Chac, was as greatly venerated as
any of the other deities, and was incorporated in the
local mythology.

There is a vast amount of truth in the saying that
“the old gods die hard.” With few exceptions, the
descendants of the ancient American races cling tena¬
ciously to their immeasurably ancient religions and
beliefs. Even to-day, many of the Indians of Cen¬
tral and South America secretly venerate or worship
the gods of their forefathers. The Mayan tribes are
no exception, although often the ancient Mayan dei¬
ties and rites and the Christian rituals and saints are
almost inextricably confused.

The Descendants of the Mayas 145

In the little church at Esquipultas, Guatemala, is
the image of the “Black Christ,” to which thousands
of Indians journey annually from all parts of Cen¬
tral America, and even from Mexico and South
America. The spot has become a shrine or Mecca
for the Indians, and for hundreds, even thousands of
miles, they travel to the obscure Guatemalan village
carrying with them all their possessions in order to
have them sanctified at the famous church. To all
outward intents and purposes they are Christians
making a pilgrimage to a Christian church in order
to worship before a figure of Christ. No doubt many
if not most of them actually are sincere in believing
this to be the case. But, as a matter of fact, the under¬
lying cause, the real urge that leads them to the spot
is the ineradicable faith in their ancient gods and re¬
ligion. The very fact that the image is black has a
symbolic significance which can be traced directly to
the ancient religions and mythologies (see Chapter
X), and, delving deeper into the details of the an¬
nual pilgrimage and the shrine, we find evidences of
the observance of the Mayan religion numerous. The
Indians who care for the church and the image are
of the Mayan priest clan or caste. Many of the
ceremonies, rites and festivals of the pilgrims are
obviously of ancient Mayan origin, and the little
santos or images which the devout Indians bring to
the church to be sanctified, and which serve as their
own household gods, are figures of the ancient Indian
deities. Moreover, among many of the Indians, the
Black Christ is referred to in private as Ekchuah
or as Hunabku (the former, the Mayan god of mer¬
chants, husbandmen and travelers; the latter, the

146 Old Civilizations or the New Would

“God-father” or supreme deity of the Mayas), often
prefixed with the Spanish Cristo (Christ), as Cristo
Ekehuah or as Cristo Hunabku.

No doubt, in many other cases, much the same
conditions prevail, and Doctor Gann reports finding
the Santa Cruz Indians of certain sections of Yuca¬
tan worshiping in the ancient temples of their fore¬
fathers, and venerating and making offerings to the
prehistoric idols of the Mayas. In some cases, he
reports, the Indians combined Christian and pagan
practises, burning blessed candles beside the idols,
praying to a saint in the ancient ritual of the Mayas,
or otherwise confusing and mingling their own re¬
ligion with that forced upon them by their conquerors.

We can scarcely blame the Indians for such things.
Their religion and their mythology are far more
ancient than our own, they served their every need
and purpose for countless ages before the coming of
the white men; if was decreed in their ancient
prophecies that the old gods would be restored in the
end, and, after all, Christianity—introduced and
forced upon them by fire and sword—has brought
them little save poverty, semislavery, oppression and
abuse.

In many parts of the territory once under Mayan
dominion, the Indians have become industrious, civi¬
lized, law-abiding, and form a predominant portion
of the population. But in other districts they have
reverted to savagery, and are untamed, independent
and implacably hostile. This is particularly true of
many of the Indian tribes of the east coast of Yuca¬
tan, where the Indians of Santa Cruz de Bravo,
Chunpom, Tulum, etc., are notorious for their feroc-

147

The Descendants of the Mayas

ity, their wildness and their intense hatred of white
men. Much of their hostility and savagery is un¬
questionably due directly to their experiences in the
past, and to the cruelty, oppression and wrongs
which have been their heritage from the days of the
Mayan rulers to the present time.

But there is another and a far more romantic rea¬
son than this that underlies the valiant, unconquer¬
able spirit of these Indians. Back in the year 1511
a certain adventurous Spaniard named Valdivia set
sail from Darien for Hispanola, carrying with him
a portion of the treasure secured by his fellow ad¬
venturer, Vasco Nunez de Balboa. The ship, how¬
ever, never reached its destination. When between
the Central American coast and Jamaica, the vessel
was wrecked upon the Las Vivoras reefs, and only
twenty men escaped. In a small boat, without oars,
sails, food or water, they drifted for two weeks at
the will of wind and tides, and were cast ashore in a
district known as Maia. Seven of the shipwrecked
men had already succumbed to hunger and thirst,
and we may be sure that the survivors regretted that
they, too, had not died at sea when they realized the
fate in store for them. Valdivia and four others
were seized by the Indians and were immediately
sacrificed and eaten, while the remaining captives
were confined in cages to be fattened for later feasts.

Fortunately for themselves, they managed to es¬
cape and, fleeing through the bush, reached the coun¬
try of AJi Kin Cutz, king of Xamancana, where they
were made slaves. Eight years later, Cortez learned
that two of these captive Spaniards still survived,
and he succeeded in ransoming one, Geronimo de

148 Old Civilizations of the New World

Aguliar. But the other, a sailor named Gonzalo
Guerrero, refused to accept deliverance. He had
made his way to Chetumal, had risen to the rank of
war-chief under Nachancan, the Chetumal king, had
tattooed himself like the Indians, had married an
Indian princess and had a promising family of three
children. He had no desire to rejoin his countrymen
or to deal with them. On the contrary, he had done
all in his power to aid his adopted tribesmen in re¬
sisting the Spaniards, and he had instilled in them
a fighting spirit, a military organization and a re¬
finement of savagery which persist to this day, and
which have been a large factor in enabling the Santa
Cruz and Chetumal Indians to maintain successfully
their independence.

In their arts and industries the Mayan tribes show
the influences of the high culture of their ancestors.
They weave beautiful textiles, make excellent pot¬
tery and produce wonderful metal work. As a rule,
each village or tribe has its own distinctive types of
weaving, of designs and of costumes; and while the
various dialects, such as the Pipil, Quiche (Kiche)
Zutugil, Kakehiquel, etc., differ somewhat, yet all
are forms of the Mayan mother-tongue.

During their fiestas, usually held on holy days of
the Catholic Church, these Indians perform very
elaborate symbolic dances in which the old Mayan
festivals, myths and hero-gods are strangely com¬
bined with historical incidents, Spanish characters
and Christian saints. Arrayed in marvelous costumes
representing the characters they assume, and with
wonderfully and fearfully designed masks, the
Indians perpetuate the events of the past. Dancers

The Descendants of the Mayas 149

representing Kukulcan and Cortez may be seen side
by side; there are Spanish soldiers, Mayan kings, hor¬
rible-looking Mayan devils and gorgeously attired
viceroys. To the onlooker it all seems incongruous,
very confusing and very amusing; but to the Indians
it is a serious matter, and while it proves how misty
and garbled are their ideas of historical events and the
story of their race, yet it serves to keep alive their
ancient traditions.

By far the greater number of the descendants of
the Mayas are in the territory once under Mayan
dominion: in Honduras, Guatemala and Yucatan.
But as I have mentioned in Chapter VII the Mayas,
like the Aztecs, had numerous outlying and even far-
distant colonies or provinces. It is not surprising
that we should find much of the Mayan tongue, the
religion, even the arts and customs, surviving in the
land where once the Mayas held full sway. But
that any of these remote, isolated communities should
have survived and should have retained any traces
of Mayan origin is truly remarkable. For centuries
they have been cut off from all intercourse with other
members of their race; they have been surrounded by
tribes of distinct stock, and often by savages and
enemies, and they have dwelt in an environment and
under conditions which would tend to destroy or
eliminate all vestiges of their origin and their an¬
cestral characters. Yet, as in the case of Aztec influ¬
ence among the Guaymfs (see Chapter X), these de¬
scendants of former Mayan outposts have preserved
some of their ancient characters to greater extent and
with less alterations than have the Indians dwelling
within the Mayan area proper.

150 Old Civilizations of the New World

Far up on the Mexican coast, near the mouth of
the Panuco River, is a small tribe called Huastecas,
who retain a distinctly Mayan dialect and still possess
Mayan characteristics. But they are by no means so
remarkable as are the survivors of remote Mayan
colonies to the south of the boundaries of Maya
dominion.

Dwelling among the forest-covered mountains in
the virtually unknown and unexplored district be¬
tween Costa Rica and Panama are the few survivors
of the Shayshan tribe. Five years ago, when I
visited this tribe, it numbered less than fifty indi¬
viduals, although the cacique or king informed me,
and proved by his tally of knotted strings, that two
years previous there had been more than two hun¬
dred and fifty. Influenza had been introduced by
some stranger, or by some Indian who had visited the
settlements, and the Shayshans had been decimated
by the disease against which they had no constitu¬
tional resistance. As practically every living member
was at that time suffering from the effects, and as
many were very ill, it is not improbable that to-day
the tribe is extinct.

Like the Guaymis (Chapter X), the Shayshans
have no villages, but dwell in widely separated houses
sheltering one or two related families, all under one
chief or king who appoints deputies, usually of his
own family or clan, to administer the affairs of the
various districts and report to the king at stated
intervals.

The houses are raised above the earth on posts, are
floored with split palm wood, and have steeply
pitched, low-eaved roofs of thatch. They are scru-

151

The Descendants op the Mayas

pulously clean, and the floors are usually carpeted
with sheets of bark-cloth. Carved wooden stools and
benches serve as seats, and the inmates sleep either
in pita-hemp hammocks or upon mats.

Although dwelling in a game country, the Shay-
shans do little hunting. Neither are they true agri¬
culturalists, but they depend largely upon wild
vegetables, nuts and fruits, together with bananas,
plantains, cacao and some maize which they raise. A
wild almond, a wild potato and the flower-buds and
fruit of the Piva-palm are their principal foods.

They are a light golden- or russet-brown, wuth
straight eyes, rather high but not prominent cheek¬
bones, and with high-bridged, slightly aquiline noses.

They are excellent wood-carvers, make serviceable
but crude pottery, are experts at weaving the pita-
hemp fibers. Their weapons are powerful bows and
long arrows, as well as short blow-guns in which
they use clay pellets instead of darts as missiles.

Their religion is a modified sun-worship, but they
consider the sun-god, whom they call Kins’hou, as
of less importance than the being Ku’l’tan who is
supposed to be a personal or tribal deity, or Shaymc,
who is a divinity, or better a spirit, controlling the
rivers, floods and rains. Here we have a very strik¬
ing proof of the survival of ancient Mayan ancestry.
Kins’hou is unquestionably an altered form of
Kinichahau, the Mayan sun-god; KuTtan is obvious¬
ly a version of Kukulcan, and Shaymc is in all
probability a modified form of Chac-Mool, the
Mayan rain- or water-god. Moreover, the name of
the tribe itself, Shayshan, means literally the “People
of Shaymc, 5 ’ or the “People of the Rain-God.”

152 Old Civilizations op the New World

But there are even more positive and remarkable
evidences of the Mayan ancestry of the Shayshans.
Over one-third of the words in their dialect are dis¬
tinctly Mayan; practically all of their numerals are
Mayan, and their names for various objects are al¬
most identical with the names of similar objects in
Guatemala or Yucatan.

Perhaps the most striking similarity of all is in the
head-dress worn by the chiefs, and for ceremonial
occasions. This consists of a fillet or band of braided
pita-fiber or cotton to which is attached a group of
feathers, in a sort of fan-shape arrangement, and
which is worn above the forehead. It is in fact pre¬
cisely like the head-dresses shown in old Spanish
pictures of the Indians of Yucatan, and like those
represented in the Mayan sculptures and paintings,
but which are not, so far as is known, in use by any
tribe other than these Shayshans.

Still farther south, in central Panama, are the
Code Indians, perhaps the descendants of the
Mayas’ most distant province in ancient times. Al¬
though to-day peaceful, industrious, civilized and in
many, if not in all, ways the most worth-while
civilized natives—red, black or white—of the
Isthmus, in times past the Codes were implacable
enemies of the Spaniards, and maintained their inde¬
pendence for centuries, often defeating the pick of
the Spanish soldiery.

To-day they number about fifteen thousand, and
are the mainstay of their portion of the republic.
They are excellent farmers; they raise horses and
cattle; they are the principal rubber gatherers, and
they manufacture many articles of rawhide, leather.

153

The Descendants oe the Mayas

horsehair and pita-hemp fiber, as well as excellent
pottery, carved woodenware and splendid baskets.

They are the only Indians I have ever visited who
have both dry- and wet-season houses. The former
are open or partly walled dwellings of cane and
thatch; the latter are of adobe or mud-plastered,
wattled construction with thick walls and tiny win¬
dows high up under the overhanging thatched roofs.

Although thoroughly civilized, these Indians re¬
tain a number of their aboriginal arts and customs.
They still have their caciques or chiefs, they still re¬
gard certain spots and caves as the abodes of spirits
or perhaps deities, and once each year, on the Feast
of Corpus Cristi, they hold an ancient dance.
Dressed in weird costumes of painted bark-cloth, and
with grotesque masks in the shapes of animals’ heads,
they exorcise the devils from everybody and every¬
thing within reach. Wielding long-handled whips
with which they lash one another as well as onlookers
and inanimate objects, they dance and rush about,
yelling and chanting. Their appearance is certainly
enough to frighten any self-respecting devil out of
his wits; but the Indians take no chances and believe
in flagellation to make matters more certain. Even
then they are not entirely certain that the last devil
has been driven off, and, to make assurance doubly
sure, they troop into church and add the candles and
prayers of the Christian religion to their own pagan
rites.

An examination of the costumes worn in this devil-
dance, and of the handicrafts of these Indians, re¬
veals that the decorative designs and patterns are
largely distinctively Mayan. Although the Codes

154 Old Civilizations of the New Would

have no knowledge of their aboriginal religion and
mythology, or at least claim they do not, still in then-
decorative paintings and carvings the symbols of the
sun-god, of Kukulcan and of Chac-Mool, as well as
those of various other Mayan deities or mythological
characters, are often represented although in altered
and conventionalized forms.

So long have these Indians been civilized and in
contact with the Spanish-speaking Panamanians,
that they have completely forgotten their own
tongue. A few of the older men and women know
some words of the Mayan dialect, and the meaning of
the Indians’ names for places and objects; but the
majority have not the slightest knowledge of their
ancestral dialect.

But the few words obtainable, as well as the names
of localities and natural objects, are enough to prove
the Mayan relationship of the Codes. Thus the
Code name for tree is huah which is precisely the
same as in the Maya tongue, and which gave Guate¬
mala its name. The Spaniards, who had no h in their
language, substituted a g in its place, and, altering
Kuah to Gua, called the country Guatemala. There
are many other evidences to indicate that the Codes
are of Maya stock, and while the chances are that
they are the descendants of the members of a Mayan
province or colony, there is another possible explana¬
tion.

It is not at all beyond the bounds of possibility
that the original inhabitants of Code antedated the
Mayas, and that the extremely ancient Code culture
(see Chapter VI) was the nucleus from which the
Mayan civilization was developed, or if not, that the

155

The Descendants of the Mayas

inhabitants of the district, driven from their homes,
wandered northward and carried certain of their arts
and a part of their culture with them and that these
greatly influenced the Mayan culture. In that case
many of the survivors may have remained in the
neighboring districts and thus have been the ancestors
of the existing Indians. In that case it would not be
at all surprising if both the Codes and the Mayas had
many features and even words in common.

CHAPTER IX

THE TOLTECS AND AZTECS

When the Spaniards under Cortez landed on the
shores of Mexico, they found the country in posses¬
sion of a highly cultured and civilized race whom
they called Aztecs. Every one is familiar with this
fact, but so much fiction, romance and misinforma¬
tion has been told and written about the ancient
Mexicans that there are many misconceptions.
Many people are under the impression that all the
inhabitants of Mexico, prior to the conquest, were
civilized Aztecs. As a matter of fact, these people
occupied and controlled only a comparatively small
portion of the country, mainly the high plateaus and
valleys, with their capital at what is now Mexico City,
but which they called Tenochtitlan.

Aside from the Aztecs, there were countless diverse
and distinct races and tribes in Mexico. Many were
still savages, others were cultured, and some had a
civilization of their own. Among these were the
Zapotecs with their culture in southern Mexico, the
Totonac culture about Vera Cruz, the Pipil culture
on the western coast of Mexico and in Honduras,
the Otomis about Guanajuato and Queretaro, the
Mixtecas on the gulf coast, the Tlascalans who were
enemies of the Aztecs and gladly aided Cortez, the
Tecpanecs dwelling on the shore of Lake Tezeuco,
the Huicholes in northern Mexico, and many others.

156

157

The Toltecs and Aztecs

Many of these had been greatly influenced by the
Aztecs; many had been conquered by them and were
Aztec colonies, but in most cases each had its own
dialect, its own arts and religious beliefs, its own at¬
tainments and culture, and many had then- own
rulers. For that matter, the Aztec Empire was a
confederation of many tribes and cultures.

Strictly speaking, the term Aztec is a misnomer.
Ethnologically the Aztecs (as well as many other
Mexican tribes) were Nahuas speaking the Nahuatl
language, and the Aztecs were only one of the nu¬
merous Nahua tribes. In their own dialect they called
themselves the “People of Anahuac” and the entire
empire became known as Aztec merely because the
Aztecs rose from a small and obscure tribe to domi¬
nate and rule the others. . _

The term Toltec is also rather misleading. In the
ancient Mexican legends and myths the earlier in¬
habitants of Mexico are spoken of as Toltecs and are
described as a civilized race. It is very questionable,
for reasons explained in Chapter III, if the Tol¬
tecs actually existed, and many authorities consider
the name more geographical than racial. We know
that some highly cultured race inhabited the Tollan
district prior to the Aztecs, for ruins and remains of
an earlier civilization are abundant there and else¬
where; but there is little if any evidence to prove that
these are not of Aztec, or rather Nahua, origin. At
any rate, if the Toltecs existed we do not know who
they were, and the term Toltec is usually employed
merely to distinguish the earlier culture of central
Mexico from that of the later Aztecs.

We know very little about the Aztecs, or rather

158 Old Civilizations op the New World

the Nahuas, prior to their arrival in the Valley of
Mexico. That they came from some distant locality
in the north is clearly proved by their codices or
written records, but unfortunately many of these are
missing, having been destroyed by the fanatical
Spanish priests. The name Aztec means “Crane
People,” and traditions and codices agree that their
original home was a spot called Aztlan (the Place
of Reeds) which some authorities have identified with
California. Other spots mentioned in the codices and
legends are Tlapallan (the Country of Bright
Colors) and Chicomoztoc (the Seven Caves).
The fact that the wanderers selected the marshy
shores of a lake as the site for their capital would
indicate that they came from a marshy country.

Fortunately for us, the Aztec Empire was still
flourishing when the Europeans arrived on the
scene, and hence, as in the case of the Incan Empire,
we have a great deal more definite knowledge of their
civilization than it is possible to obtain in regard to
the Mayan and other civilizations which had vanished
before the coming of the Spaniards.

But unfortunately, the Dons took far too little
interest in the ethnological or archeological features
of the natives. They were after gold and other treas¬
ure, and their campaign was one of wholesale de¬
struction. Few of the leaders were more than
illiterate adventurers, and the padres, who were the
only men able to record scientific matters, were more
interested in converting the natives to Christianity,
or in destroying pagan gods and temples, than in
studying their customs, beliefs and arts. To be sure,
some of the priests and some of the laymen took a

159

The Toltecs and Aztecs

keen, interest in the races they were destroying.
Many of these men wrote voluminously of what they
observed and learned, and to them we owe an im¬
mense debt of gratitude, for their works, which are
still preserved, give us a better idea of the Aztec
civilization than would he possible by a study of
their remains alone. No doubt much more in the
way of documentary records was suppressed or de¬
stroyed than was preserved, for the Church was fear¬
ful of encouraging what it considered heathen and
blasphemous practises, or even of permitting re¬
cords of such matters to exist. Several priceless
works of the early missionaries in Mexico were
sedulously hidden away and were not discovered un¬
til comparatively recently.

From what was recorded and preserved we have
learned a great deal about the social organization,
the government, the beliefs, the religion, the mathe¬
matics, the astronomy, the customs and even the
home life of the Aztecs, and we can readily decipher
their maps, codices and inscriptions. Still there is
a great deal of guesswork, for often contemporane¬
ous writers failed to agree, and even more often they
forgot to mention the most important details, which
to them, no doubt, were such every-day and familiar
matters that they did not consider them worth re¬
cording. While countless specimens of Aztec hand¬
work and art were saved and are still preserved, a
thousand times more were ruthlessly destroyed and
were forever lost to the world. Moreover, the
Spaniards, even the most educated, intelligent and
observant, were woefully handicapped when it came
to observing and recording matters dealing with the

160 Old Civilizations op the New World

natives. They were compelled to depend largely
upon hearsay and interpreters. Their tongues and
ears, accustomed to soft Castilian vowels, were not
adapted to speaking or hearing the peculiar sounds
and inflections of Indian dialects; their own spelling
was uncertain and far from uniform; and when set¬
ting down native names and words they found it
next to impossible to do so with the letters of their
own Spanish alphabet. The best they could do was
to spell the words phonetically, which was often im¬
possible as no letters existed to express the proper
sounds. As a result, and also because names and
terms varied in different localities and dialects, a
vast amount of confusion occurred, so that to-day
we cannot always be certain whether different words
and names, such as names of deities and localities,
are synonymous or distinct.

In their civilization the Aztecs were inferior in
some respects to the Mayas, the Incas and other
American races. In their engineering feats they did
not approach the Peruvian races, nor had they per¬
fected textiles, ceramics and some other arts to equal
those of the South American cultures. On the other
hand, they had reached greater heights in many arts
and attainments. Their feather-work was magnifi¬
cent, and to supply the feathers necessary for orna¬
ments and garments they maintained immense
aviaries of bright-plumaged birds whose feathers were
plucked at regular intervals. The rulers, priests and
officials wore clothing and mantles of feather-work
which aroused the wonder and admiration of the
Spaniards, and their feather mosaics upon shields and
other objects of hide, wood, etc., are among the most

The Toltecs and Aztecs 161

remarkable known examples of American art. In
mosaic especially, the Aztecs surpassed all races of
the New World, and in some ways of the entire
world. Much of this was in turquoise. A wooden
shield covered with turquoise mosaic which is in the
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Founda¬
tion, in New York, is an astounding example of this
art. This shield, which is one of the few perfect
specimens extant, contains nearly fifteen thousand
pieces of turquoise laid on to form an elaborate orna¬
mental design with human figures in the center. In¬
numerable objects were thus decorated with mosaic
work in turquoise, metal, mother-of-pearl, precious
and semiprecious stones, etc. It was used on wood,
shell, bone, metal and hide. Magnificent daggers
and knives of obsidian, mounted on beautifully
carved hilts of bone, had the entire surfaces of the
hilts, covered with mosaic. Vessels and utensils of
all sizes were decorated in a similar manner. Stone
statues and idols were inlaid with mosaic, and even
human skulls were covered with mosaic.

In their carvings on shells, bones, wood and stone
the Aztecs exhibited a skill and refinement that has
never been excelled, and no material was too refrac¬
tory for the Aztec artizans to carve and engrave. In
the American Museum of Natural History in New
York and in the British Museum are masses of
clear quartz crystal carved into the forms of human
skulls, human and animal heads and other shapes, as
perfectly modeled and cut, and as highly polished,
even m the smallest and deepest recesses, as though
done by the most skilled modern lapidist. Jade,
agate, topaz, sapphire, quartz, amethyst and prac-

162 Old Civilizations of the New World

tically every precious and semiprecious stone known
to Mexico was carved, cut, polished and perforated
with apparent ease by the Aztecs. Many of these
gems are so small and the work upon them so minute
that it seems impossible that it could have been done
without the aid of a lens. But none of this work is
as remarkable in some ways as the Aztec art in ob¬
sidian. Obsidian or volcanic glass is one of the hard¬
est and most refractory of minerals. It is as brittle
as glass and flakes with a touch. For forming edged
tools and weapons, such as knives, spear- and arrow¬
heads, etc., obsidian is almost ideal, and astonishingly
beautiful weapons of the material were produced by
many primitive American races. But the Aztecs,
not content with producing weapons of the highest
and most perfect workmanship, went even further
and used obsidian for ornamental purposes, cutting
and carving it as perfectly and readily as any other
material. Many of these ornaments, such as ear¬
plugs, were cut so thin that they are almost as trans¬
parent as glass, and were polished on every surface.
Large masses of obsidian were cut and polished for
use as mirrors, and immense ceremonial objects were
formed into complex shapes from the same material.

Among their weapons of obsidian were swords.
These swords were peculiar to the Aztecs who, as far
as is known, were the only pre-Columbian Americans
to use them. The Aztec sword (maquahuitl) bore
little resemblance to a sword as we know it. The blade
was of wood, usually carved and often decorated
with mosaic, and with both edges set with rectangular
obsidian teeth placed close together like the teeth on a
large saw. As metal was very scarce among the Az-

The Toltecs and Aztecs

163

tecs little was used, and stone, especially obsidian,
took its place for most purposes. Although they pos¬
sessed silver, gold and copper, the latter metal was
prized far more than the precious metals, and copper
bells and other objects passed as money. In this re¬
spect the Aztecs were far behind the Incas and other
American races who used copper or bronze for in-
numberable purposes, and who had acquired a re¬
markable skill in smelting, casting, hammering,
welding, soldering and plating metals.

As far as is known, the Aztecs did not use metal
weapons as extensively as did the Peruvians, but their
stone and obsidian-tipped swords, spears and arrows
were probably as effective as the metal weapons of
their southern neighbors, until it came to fighting the
Spaniards with their steel armor and firearms. Like
the Peruvians and many other ancient American
races, the Aztecs made use of the spear-throwing-
stick, or atlatl, which still survives and is in daily
use among the G-uaymi Indians of Panama who, as
described in Chapter VI, are of Aztec descent.

As the Aztecs were a warlike, or at least a mili¬
tant, race, weapons and armament were of great im¬
portance to them, and some of their most perfect and
beautiful examples of handicraft and art are to be
found in their fighting gear. For protection they
used padded or quilted cotton armor, armor of cane,
and thick rawhide shields, as well as a form of hel¬
met or casque. But they did not neglect the more
peaceful arts. Their musical instruments were excel¬
lently designed and made, and, as in the case of
nearly every object, both utilitarian and otherwise,
they were highly ornamental, the drums made in

164 Old Civilizations of the New Would

animal or human forms, and the horns and flutes
carved, inlaid and painted. Painting reached a high
state among the Aztecs. Not only was it employed
upon their beautiful ceramic ware, but true paintings
were made upon parchment, cloth, etc. Elaborate
maps were painted on these materials, and records,
writings and codices were done in colors upon sheets
of parchment, papyrus or cloth.

Along astronomical and mathematical lines the
Aztecs and Mayas had advanced independently, and
while both had developed an amazing knowledge of
these sciences they differed materially in results.
Thus the Aztecs’ calendar, as well as their written or
glyphed language, differed greatly from that of the
Mayas. Broadly speaking, the Aztec writing was
pictorial and symbolic. Even on their maps and
codices, localities and events were recorded by means
of pictures bearing some resemblance (although
often so conventionalized as to be unrecognizable) to
the objects they represented, rather than by arbi¬
trary signs or elements of a phonetic character. But
there is evidence that the Aztec scribes were rapidly
developing a less cumbersome and more truly written
language in which words were expressed by phonetic
symbols. Thus in recording the names of persons
and places- they frequently used signs instead of the
pictorial representations. Ixcoatl, for example, was
represented by a small serpent (coatl) pierced by
knives (Iztli). Montezuma was indicated by a
mouse-trap (Montli) an eagle (quauhtli) a lancet
(%o) and a hand (maitl), the first syllable of each
word giving the name “Mon-quau-zo-ma.” But the
system varied and had not been coordinated. At

165

The Toltecs and Aztecs

times an entire syllable would be expressed by an
object whose name began with the syllable. At other
times a single sound or letter would be represented by
the same drawing, but the idea was to convey a
thought by a sketch indicating the phonetic element.

The codices, moreover, were not intended to be
read or interpreted by every one. As a rule they
were learned by rote and were passed on by word of
mouth from generation to generation, and in many
cases knowledge of their exact meaning has been
completely lost. Even after the Spanish conquest
the Mexicans continued to record events by means of
these painted codices, and on many of these the
meanings of the symbols are elaborated and made
lucid by means of notations in Spanish.

The same is true of the Aztec maps, and long after
Mexico had come completely under Spanish rule and
the natives had acquired a knowledge of Spanish,
their maps were largely made with the typical Aztec-
an figures and symbols.

Did we possess a full series of the pre-Columbian
codices we might be able to trace the entire history
of the Aztecs and all their wanderings until they at
last found a permanent resting-place in the Valley
of Mexico. Several of these originals exist, and
there are others which are very accurate facsimiles.
These were made by Mexican artists who, from their
memory and knowledge, reproduced the originals de¬
stroyed by the Dons. These copies were interpreted
by the artists themselves and are therefore known as
interpretive codices. Three are known: the first, the
Oxford Codex in the Bodleian Library, is historical
with a list of cities subject to Mexico; the second, the

166 Old Civilizations of the New World

Paris or Tellerio-Remensis Codex, records many
facts about the settlement of the Nahua city-states;
while the third, or Vatican Codex, is mostly of a
mythological and calendrical character. Perhaps
the most remarkable feature of this is the section
representing the Aztec idea of the journey of the
soul through the other world after death. The
corpse, dressed for burial, is shown with the spirit
issuing from the mouth. Ushered by an attendant
in an ocelot skin, the soul, with a wooden collar about
its neck indicating a prisoner, goes before Tezcat-
lipoca to be sentenced. Then the soul is tested for
its right to enter the world of the dead, the realm of
Mictlan, and is provided with a number of arrows or
spears for self-protection. It passes two high peaks,
which may topple upon it at any instant; a terrible
serpent intercepts it; and if this is overcome it is
faced by a huge alligator (xochitonal). Then it
must cross eight successive deserts and mountains
and be buffeted by a cyclone so fierce that it cuts
the solid rock. Finally it encounters a demon
(izpuzteque), and the fiend Nextepehua with clouds
of ashes, until at length it wins the doors of the “Lord
of Hell” where it is free to greet its spirit friends.

In some details the Aztec and Maya calendars are
similar, although they are by no means identical, and
it is evident that one either borrowed from the other
or that both took their ideas from some common
source. As the Mayan culture is far older than that
of the Aztecs it is probable that the Mayas originated
the system, but as the Zapoteean calendar embodies
peculiarities of both, some authorities have held that
it is the oldest. On the other hand it is far more prob-

167

The Toltecs ajstb Aztecs

able that the Zapotecans borrowed from both the
Mayas and Aztecs.

The Aztecs’ year was of three hundred and sixty-
five days without any correction or intercalary ad¬
dition, and hence, in the course of time, their calendar
lost most of its seasonal value or significance. Be¬
cause of the omission of the extra hours in each solar
year it became necessary for the priest constantly to
alter the dates of festivals. The Nexiuhilpilitzli or
“Binding of the Years” consisted of fifty-two years
which ran in two cycles: one of fifty-two years of
three hundred and sixty-five days, and the other of
seventy-three groups of two hundred and sixty days
each. The former was the course of the solar year
divided into eighteen periods of twenty days or
months with five unlucky (nemontemi) days over and
above the others. These were not intercalated, hut
were included in the year and overflowed the yearly
division of twenty days. The seventy-three groups
of two hundred and sixty days were subdivided into
smaller groups or “birth-cycles” of thirteen days. The
twenty days were the basis of time reckoning
(cempohualli) from the waxing to the waning of the
moon. Every day in this period had its name or sym¬
bol, such as “snake,” “wind,” “reed,” “house,” etc.

Each cempohualli (twenty days) was divided into
four five-day periods or weeks which were known by
the symbol or name of the middle or third day in each.
The day names ran on with no regard to the length
of the year and the year itself was called by the name
of the middle day of the week on which it began. As
there were only twenty day names it is obvious that
there were four: (calli) house, (rochtli) rabbit.

168 Old Civilizations of the New World

(acatl) reed and (tecpatl) flint, which always re-
curred in sequence because of the incidence of th*
Mexican solar year.

Four ordinary years made one “sun-year,” and a-
no work was done on the “unlucky” days and the peo¬
ple lived in fear and trembling of the universe com¬
ing to an end during that period, the civil year
permitted the day names to run continuously from
year to year. The priests, however, kept their own
reckoning or religious calendar, and always began
their year with the first calendar date, regardless of
the symbol or name dominating the civil year.

Thirteen years formed a ociumalpilli (bundle), and
four of these, fifty-two, produced the complete Bind¬
ing of the Years. Hence each year had a double
aspect: first as an individual period of time, and sec¬
ond as a part of the sun-year. These were so named
and numbered that each year in the entire series of
fifty-two years was differentiated.

As I have mentioned, a terrible fear came over the
people as the end of each fifty-two-year cycle ap¬
proached, for they believed implicitly that at the close
of some one of these cycles the world would end. To
their minds, a foreordained time had expired as ap-
^ 01 ^ e „ Y Divinity, and as no one, not even priests,
could foresee which cycle would mark the end of the
universe, the people always prepared themselves for
toe worst. For some time after each Binding of the
xears the people prostrated themselves, offered sac¬
rifices and abandoned all tasks and occupations. As
the first day of the new (fifty-third) year dawned, the
people anxiously watched the Pleiades for the ex¬
pected omen of destruction or a new lease on life. If

169

The Toltecs and Aztecs

the constellation passed the zenith, time would con¬
tinue, and immediately thereafter there was great re¬
joicing. Gods were placated by wholesale human
sacrifices, fires being kindled by friction upon the?
breasts of the victims, and the hearts and bodies
being consumed as the flames spread. The hearth
fires, which had been allowed to go out, were re-
kindled from the sacred fires of the temples, and life
was again resumed.

Originally the birth-cycle of two hundred and sixty
days was a lunar cycle and bore the names of thirteen
moons and formed a portion of the civil calendar;
but later it had nothing in common with the civil cal¬
ender, the lunar names were abandoned, it was used
only for religious purposes, and the days were desig¬
nated by numbers from one to thirteen. In this con¬
nection it is interesting to note the frequent
recurrence of thirteen in calendrical, religious and
other matters of the Aztecs and other ancient
American races. Nearly all the prophecies were
based on that number; it was considered a
sacred and lucky number, and throughout Aztec,
Mayan and Incan myths and legends we find
it appearing with great frequency. No doubt the
mysticism of thirteen arose from the original lunar
year of thirteen moons, but it is rather strange that
these early Americans regarded thirteen from the
opposite point of view of all the European races.

In science the Aztecs were not far advanced, aside
from their calendrical system and their architectural
attainments. Mainly their science, so-called, con¬
sisted of astrology and divination, the priests claim¬
ing to be able to foretell the futures of newly bora

170 Old Civilizations of the New World

children and the progress of souls after death, by
means of their calendars and the stars. They also
made prophecies and practised divination by means of
omens obtained from the flights of birds, the appear¬
ance of seeds and fruits, birds’ feathers, bones and in¬
numerable other objects.

Although they had developed a rather complete
and remarkable form of pictographic written lan¬
guage, yet, if judged solely by their spoken language,
the Aztecs would be regarded as low in their civiliza¬
tion. Their dialects were of the incorporative type,
so common among the American aborigines, in which
several related words are joined to form one long
word. By merging the various words, or portions of
them, and by slightly altering their forms and then
joining them, the races produced single words of most
inordinate length and involved meanings. This led
to almost impossible sounds and still more impossible
pronunciations. For example, the simple expression
“nine years” was qhiucnauhwihuitl , as nearly as it
can be written in letters of our alphabet. Faced with
such words, it is a wonder that the Spaniards ever
made any headway in the language, and, as Spence
remarks: “The greatest glory of the Spanish priests
was that they learned the language in the interests
of the Christian faith.”

In their social organization the Aztecs were pecu¬
liar. The government was an absolute monarchy in
many ways and held sway over practically all of the
modem states of Mexico, Vera Cruz and Guerrero.
But within the empire were many city-states and
small republics with local rulers who were practically
independent.

171

The Toltecs and Aztecs

The royal line was not hereditary, hut the eldest
surviving brother of the monarch ascended to the
throne. In case there was no surviving brother the
eldest nephew of the deceased king succeeded him.
But like many customs, even in modern days, this rule
was often ignored, and in case of the rightful heir
being incompetent or otherwise undesirable, the min¬
isters usually elected some outsider as a monarch be¬
cause of his military ability, his knowledge of politi¬
cal and religious matters and his character. Whoever
ascended the throne of the Aztecs was invariably a
man of the highest culture, artistic refinement and
aristocratic blood. The state council was composed
of electors and other important individuals, and their
duties were to look after the finances and other de¬
tails of the government. Practically all military,
civil, judicial and religious positions of any impor¬
tance were held by members of the nobility. Every
city and province had its local judges who exercised
both civil and criminal jurisdiction, and whose opin¬
ions superseded that of the emperor. There were
also lesser judges or magistrates who attended to
petty eases, as well as police officials and a well-or-
ganized police force.

In the city-states and semiindependent republics
a distinct feudal government existed, as for example

at Cholula and Tollantzinco where the Alcolhuans
had paramount control. In fact, Mexico in the times
of the Aztec Empire was in many respects similar to
medieval Europe where there were numerous feudal
lords and barons, each supreme in his district, but all
owing allegiance to the king. Also, as was the cus¬
tom in medieval Europe, the Aztec priesthood had

172 Old Civilizations op the New Woeus

vast powers and complete control of education. Edu¬
cation was highly organized and was divided into pri¬
mary and secondary grades, the boys being taught
by the priests, and the girls by holy women or nuns.
The secondary or calmecae education was devoted en¬
tirely to deciphering the codices, to astrology, divina¬
tion, religion and the higher sciences. Despite the
fact that the Aztec priesthood was a hierarchy with
immense power, especially in matters of religion, the
priests unquestionably used their power largely for
the good of the people, instructing the Aztecs in their
faith, and ever trying to instil the cardinal virtues.
Even the Spanish padres admitted this, and Sahagun
says that they “performed the duties plainly pointed
out by their religion.” The upkeep of the Church and
priesthood depended upon land tenure with the rev¬
enue derived therefrom, together with a rule or law
of “first fruits,” the surplus being distributed among
the poor.

The head or high priest was known as Mexicatl
TeoTmatzin or Mexican Lord of Divine Matters. He
had a seat on the king’s council and was second only
to the monarch himself. Next to him was the high
priest of Quetzalcoatl who led a secluded life and had
authority only over his own caste. Under these two
chief dignitaries of the church were the ordinary or
secular priests who dressed in black and wore long
hair covered with a mantilla-like cloth and who were
known as ilenamacac, and the still lower or “little
priests” (lamacazton) who were in effect lay-brothers
or novices. It must not be thought that the Aztec
priests led a life of ease, luxury and carnal pleasures
by any means. Their life was rigorous and austere

173

The Toltecs and Aztecs

in the extreme, and was devoted mainly to fasting,
penitence and prayer when not busy observing e
exacting rituals of their faith. Even their nigh s
were not devoid of labor, for they were required to
rise frequently in order to give praise to their go s.
Absolute cleanliness of persons and garments was
rigorously enforced, and the priests were frequent y
compelled to draw their own blood or offer other
forms of self-sacrifice.

The domestic life of the Aztecs was remarkable tor
the simplicity of the lives of the poorer classes and the
voluptuous display of the aristocracy. The greater
portion of the masses was forced to labor strenuous¬
ly in the fields or at the various trades and arts, such
as feather-work, metal working, building, quarryin^,,
stone-cutting, jewelry- and weapon-making. Others
were venders of fruits, vegetables and flowers, btill
others were servants, street sweepers, porters,. etc.
On the other hand, the aristocracy led a life of laziness
and luxury equal to that of ancient Rome. At then
banquets, where the women sat at separate tables,
they dined on venison, wild turkey, game, the most
delectable fruits and vegetables, pastry and rich
sauces served in vessels of solid gold and silver. The
use of tobacco was universal, and for their national
beverage they had the pulque or juice of the maguey
plant, either unfermented or fermented. At certain
times on ceremonial occasions, human flesh was eaten,
but probably this was solely for religious reasons, for
the Aztecs’ religion enjoined the killing of slaves and
captives and the consumption of their flesh m order
to obtain unity with the deity in the flesh.

The religion was complicated, and the Aztec myth-

174 Old Civilizations op the New World

ology contained a vast number of gods and goddesses
with innumerable lesser deities and sacred heroes. In
fact, the number of their gods was so great that sci¬
entists adopted the system of numbering them rather
than attempting to classify all by name. Moreover,
to add to the confusion, many of the deities bore two
or more names and were gods or goddesses of two or
more matters.

The rituals provided for a certain amount of can¬
nibalism, for many human sacrifices, and for cold¬
blooded cruelty, while at the same time there were
baptisms, confessions, consubstantiation, etc. In
many ways the Aztec religion was superior to that of
either the Greeks or Romans, and at the time of the
Spanish conquest it was rapidly evolving into a wor¬
ship of one supreme god. This was the air-god
(Tezcatlipoca) also known as the “Fiery-Mirror,”
the Aztecan Jupiter, who carried a polished shield in
which he was supposed to see all the actions and deeds
of mankind.

The Aztecs believed in eternity as regards the soul,
but with eons or epochs, each of which was dependent
on the sun. At the close of every four “suns” or
epochs, the world was supposed to meet with disaster;
the exact nature of each being recorded and foretold.

To enumerate and describe even a small proportion
of the Aztec deities would require a volume in itself,
and it is possible to mention only a few of the more
important and interesting of their gods and goddes¬
ses. As I have said, the Aztec religion at the time
of the Spanish conquest was tending toward the wor¬
ship of one supreme god; but the deity Tezcatlipoca,
who was apparently destined to become the Divinity,

LiO

The Toetecs and Aztecs

was % no means the most important god of the Artec-
an mythology. This was Tonatiah, the Sun-Chiei
or sun-god, the principal source of life, and known
also as “Teotl” or “God.” He was also at times
called Ipalneomohuani or “He by who men live, . an
he was the ever-present background of the worship of

AZTEC

SUN GODS

all the Aztec deities. Human sacrifices were made
to him, and the hearts of sacrificial victims were al¬
ways held up and offered to him first. It was the
sole business of many warriors to secure captives to
provide the daily sacrifices to this insatiable deity.

176 Old Civilizations of the New Would

The man who secured the most prisoners for this sac¬
rifice was regarded as the champion, and the warriors
devoted to the god believed that they would remain in
his service after death and would share his life. He is
usually represented as licking up the blood of his vic¬
tims, and his chief festival was celebrated by the sym¬
bolic sacrifice of all the other gods by attiring and
painting the victims to represent the lesser deities. It
is a most interesting and remarkable fact that this
Aztec sun-god is usually represented with a project¬
ing tongue, and with conventionalized jaguars in his
hands or at the sides of his head, and that the chief
deity of the Nascas of Peru was shown in precisely
the same form, even to the protruding tongue. It
would seem that this must have been more than a
mere coincidence, and yet we have no evidence to lead
us to think there was any relationship or connection
between the Naseans and the ancient Mexicans.

Tezcatlipoca, the air-god, whom I have already
mentioned, was also known as Nezahualpilli (Hun¬
gry Chief); Yaotzin (the Enemy); Telpoehtli (the
Youthful Warrior); Yoalli Ehecatl (Night Wind)
and Moneneque (Claimer of Prayer). He was re¬
garded as the life-giver and death-dealer, and was
supposed to rush along the dark highways like a
wind, seeking persons whose time had come. Stone
benches for him to rest upon were provided by the
thoughtfully considerate Aztecs, and were placed be¬
side the roads screened by foliage. It was believed
that if a person seized by this god should succeed in
overcoming him he would be granted whatever he
desired. This god was credited with being the orig¬
inator of most of the Aztecs’ arts, and the guide in de-

177

The Toltecs ahd Aztecs

veloping their civilization. He is usually represented
with a spear and a polished shield, and is often shown
with a golden ear hanging from his hair and with
several small golden tongues surrounding it, the
whole being symbolical of the god’s status of Claim-
er of Prayer.

Numerous human sacrifices were made to this god,
during ceremonials, one of which was the Toxcatl
held on the fifth month of each year. At this time a
physically perfect youth, who had long been prepared
for the rite, was sacrificed. The victim, selected from
among the prisoners destined for sacrifice, assumed
the name, garments and all the attributes of the deity
and was regarded with reverence and awe by the peo¬
ple who believed him the earthly representative of
their god. He was cared for with the utmost solici¬
tude and was entertained in the homes and at the
tables of the nobility during his year of preparation.
During the day he rested, but at night he went forth
on the highways with shield and javelin, resting upon
the stone seats or rushing along the roads accompa¬
nied by attendants or pages. Later he was given four
beautiful virgins as companions, and his last days
were a round of continuous feasting and pleasure.
Upon the day appointed for the sacrifice he bade his
girl companions a fond farewell, was carried up the
steps of the pyramid, and was sacrificed upon the
altar.

Another important Aztec god was Huitzilopoehtli,
the war-god. According to Aztecan mythology this
god was the son of a pious -widow, Coatlieue, who
afterward became a goddess herself. The myth re¬
lates that while she was praying on a mountain a

178 Old Civilizations of the New World

small bundle of bright-colored feathers fell from the
sky upon her. These she placed in her bosom intend¬
ing to offer them to the sun-god, but in a short time
she discovered she was to become a mother. Learn¬
ing this, her sons and her daughter Coyolxauhqui
decided to kill their mother in order to wipe out the
family disgrace. While they were attacking her, the
war-god was born, fully armed with shield and spear
of blue, with a head-dress of humming-bird feathers
and a feather leg-guard. He instantly destroyed his
brothers with a flash of lightning and beheaded his
sister. His name, Huitzilopochtli (Humming-bird
to the left), was bestowed upon him because of his
legendary leg-covering, and his mother, Coatlieue or
Coatlantona (Snake-skirt), was made the goddess of
the earth or Earth-Mother. She is represented as
a fearsome-looking being with a death’s head, clawed
hands and feet, and with a skirt of braided rattle¬
snakes, symbolic of lightning.

Chicomecoatl, the goddess of agriculture, is rep-
presented as a human face in the mouth of a rattle¬
snake. Her chief ceremonial was Xalaquia from
June twenty-eighth to July fourteenth, during which
period young virgin captives, painted red and yellow
to symbolize maize, performed intricate dances, for
which they had been especially trained. On the last
day of the festival these maidens were carried up to
the altar and sacrificed. During the time of the
Xalaquia , and until the death of the last victim, it
was unlawful for the people to use new corn in any
form.

The god of human sacrifice was Xipe (the Flayed
One), who is represented as attired in the skin of a

179

The Toltecs and Aztecs

flayed human being. On his festivals of man-flaying
the victims were stripped of their skins which were
worn by the god’s devotees for a period of twenty
days. At this time, also, the Aztec monarch assumed
the character of the god, wearing a crown and jacket
of spoonbill feathers, a skirt of overlapping, green
feathers, and with hands and feet covered with the
skins of the extremities of the sacrificed victim. Al¬
though Xipe was always a red god he had three forms
or characters: the spoonbill, the blue cotinga and the
jaguar, symbols of earth, heaven and hell.

The rain-god, Tlaloc, was probably adopted from
the Mayan mythology and was identical in form and
attributes with the Maya Chac-Mool. In Aztecan
mythology he was the husband of Chalchihuitlicue,
(the Emerald Lady) and their numerous children
were the Tlalocs (Clouds). Many children and maid¬
ens were sacrificed to this god. If the victims wept
as they approached the sacrificial altar it was con¬
sidered a good omen for a prosperous rainy season
to follow. Tlaloc’s Emerald Lady wife was usually
represented or symbolized as a frog, and at the feast
of Etzalqualiztli (When they eat bean-food) priests
devoted to the god’s cult plunged into the lake and
imitated the sounds and movements of frogs. Sac¬
rifices to Tlaloc and his wife were made in the moun¬
tains at special altars and at artificial ponds where
there were extensive cemeteries devoted entirely to
the victims of the sacrifices. The volcanoes of Teo-
cuinani and Popocatepetl were considered the abodes
of the god and goddess, and on the former there was
a temple to the rain-god containing a green stone
image of Tlaloc who is always represented as resting

180 Old Civilizations of the New World

on Ms back with head raised, knees drawn up and
hands holding a disk upon his stomach.

Probably the best known and most famous of the
Aztecs’ gods was the “Plumed Serpent” or Quetzal¬
coatl,* although he was by no means their most
important deity. He was a far less cruel and blood¬
thirsty god than most of the Aztec deities, and, un¬
like them, he did not demand human sacrifices but
preferred the blood of his devotees and worshipers
shed by themselves. His priests, who were of a dis¬
tinct caste, were accustomed to pierce their tongues
or ears to secure the blood which they smeared upon
the mouths of the idols. There are many myths and
legends connected with Quetzalcoatl, but all agree
that he was a white stranger with a flow ing beard.
One myth states that he first appeared in the form of
the quetzal or resplendent trogan, and that while in
tMs form he was captured in the snare of a hunter,
Hueymatzin, himself a hero-god. Owing to tMs, the
quetzal became the sacred bird of the Aztecs and
Mayas, and temples were devoted to its worship.
Another legend relates that Quetzalcoatl arrived in
a strange winged ship at the spot now known as Yera
Cruz, and that he taught the Aztecs many arts, in¬
structed them in religion, and established their civili¬
zation.

Among other things he prophesied that long after
Ms departure white strangers would arrive from over¬
sea and would overthrow the Aztec kings and enforce
another religion, but that eventually he would return
to reestablish the Aztecs and their faith. Whether
or not there was any basis of truth in tMs myth, it is

*Quetz&I, the resplendent trogan, and Coat!, a

The Toltecs and Aztecs 181

impossible to say. But it is a remarkable and indis¬
putable fact, borne out by contemporaneous written
records, that the Aztecs were not at all surprised
when Cortez and his followers arrived at Vera Cruz,
and that many of the natives mistook the conqueror
for Quetzalcoatl. Moreover, the legend of white
men visiting America, and later going back to the

Land of Sunrise whence they would again return,
was widely disseminated prior to the Spanish con¬
quest. The Maya priest, Chilam Balam, prophesied
that, at the end of the thirteenth age, white men
would arrive in Yucatan; and the Peruvian Inca,
Atahualpa, told Pizarro that his father, Huayna-
Kapac had prophesied on his death-bed that, in the
reign of the thirteenth Inca, white men would come
from the sun and subjugate the Peruvians. Perhaps
the most remarkable and inexplicable features of all
these prophecies or legends are the recurrence of the
mystical number thirteen in such widely separated lo¬
calities as Yucatan and Peru, the fact that the Span¬
iards arrived at the time foretold, and the amazing
similarity of the myths with our own story of Christ
with its promise of His return. At any rate, the na¬
tives implicit belief in these legends was a large fac¬
tor in their comparatively easy conquest by the
Europeans, for the Aztecs, like the Peruvians, felt
that they could not escape their predestined fate.

The Aztec legend or prophecy went much further
than the others, however, and foretold that eventually
the old gods and old rule would be reestablished, al¬
though, as so often happens in the case of prophecies,
the exact date of this renaissance was uncertain. But
unquestionably much of the unrest in Mexico during

182 Old Civilizations of the New World

the past few years is due to the fact that thousands of
the Indians still have faith in their ancient tradition
and, with few exceptions, the descendants of the
Aztecs are still looking forward to their mi11prminn 1
and the reinstatement of their ancient gods. As is
the case with the descendants of the Mayas, the
Incans and others, the Mexican Indians have a deep-
seated faith in their pagan deities, athough nominally
Christians, and while some, such as the Huicholes of
northern Mexico, have driven out the priests, have
cast aside the Christian religion and have returned to
the worship of their ancestral gods, the majority
maintain a profound secrecy as to their true beliefs
and devotions, and profess entire ignorance of the
gods and ceremonies of their ancestors.

As Quetzaleoatl is always represented as a white
man with a full beard and attired in a black robe
bordered with white crosses, and as the Mayan
Plumed Serpent god, Kukulcan, is also represented
as a bearded man it seems quite probable that the
myths were based upon the actual arrival of some
European in ages past. Certain persons have claimed
that the Plumed Serpent was a Viking, despite the
facts that his legendary advent was centuries before
the Norsemen reached the New World and that his
representations are found among the most ancient
American remains. The pious Spanish padres, on
the other hand, identified Quetzaleoatl with St.
Thomas and other apostles, and in their writings,
pointed out the many similarities between the Aztec
religion and their own. It has even been suggested
that a divine being may have appeared to various
races, including the ancient Americans, and taught

183

The Toltecs and Aztecs

them religion similar to Christianity, and that, during
the following ages, the religion became perverted and
distorted until unrecognizable.

Although the myths regarding Quetzaleoatl agree
fairly well as to his arrival and his beneficent teach¬
ings, they vary greatly as to his departure. One says
that he cast himself on to a funeral pyre and that
his ashes flew up and were changed to birds while his
heart became the morning star. According to this
legend he vanished for four days, then wandered for
eight days in the underworld, until the morning star
appeared, when he was resurrected and went to
Heaven as a god,—a story strikingly like our account
of the Resurrection. Another version is that he be¬
came disgusted with the perversion of the Aztecs’
faith and their devotion to worldly lusts and pleas¬
ures, and departed on a magic raft of entwined ser¬
pents. Still another relates that he was overcome by
Tezcatlipoca, the god of night, who descended on a
spider s web and offered Quetzaleoatl a draught
supposedly to produce immortality, which in reality
effected such an irresistible longing for home as to
cause him to depart. Both in Mexico and among the
Mayas, Quetzaleoatl was regarded as the god of
dawn, as a god of light, of the sun, of thunder, of
winds and of the cardinal points of the compass.
Aside from his name of Quetzaleoatl he was known
to the Aztecs as Ehecatl (the Air), Yolcuat (the
Rattlesnake) Tohil (the Rumbler), Naniheheeatl
(Lord of the Four Winds), Tlauizcalpantecutli
(Lord of the Light of Dawn), etc. Symbolic of
these attributes, are the whirls and wind symbols
which usually surround him, his temples built in cir-

184 Old Civilizations of the New World

cular form, and the representation of his head as the
second of the twenty day signs, Ehecatl or wind.

In making statues, figures or otherwise depicting
their gods and goddesses, the Aztecs sometimes rep¬
resented them as imaginary beings, as semihuman, as
part human and part beast, or as ordinary men and
women. Frequently several gods would be shown
with identical features, forms, etc., and were only
recognizable by certain ornaments, details of dress
or even by distinctive colors. Thus, in the codices,
the gods Tezcatlipoca and Huitzilopochtli are always
easily identified, for the former is pictured with two
black bands across the face: one below the mouth and
the other beneath the eyes and separated by a blue
band, while Huitzilopochtli is painted with similar
bands of blue. On the codices, Otontecutli is dis¬
tinguished by two black facial bands, while Xiuhte-
cutli has a band above the mouth and another above
the eyes. The same system of identification mar ks
was carried out on idols, masks and other representa¬
tions, the colored bands being either painted or, more
often, formed of mosaic set in recesses cut in the
stone. This not only prevented any mistake being
made as to which god was represented, but it made
matters much simpler for the artists, sculptors and
codex-makers. The latter in particular would have
had great difficulty in drawing distinctive features
for every deity and always duplicating them when
painting the hundreds of small figures upon the
codices. But by drawing the figures in conventional
form, with no difference in features, and by designat¬
ing each deity by his facial markings and symbols,
the task became quite simple.

The Toltecs and Aztecs

185

Most of the Aztec gods were repellent, cruel and
bestially bloodthirsty deities; but they were not all
of this character. There were Xochipili or the
“Flower-god-child,” the special deity of flowers, who
was represented as a beautiful child adorned with
blossoms; the “Obsidian Butterfly” or Itzpapalotl,
and many others, as well as innumerable mythical
beings who were not true gods but were more in the
nature of symbols, as, for example, the Xiuhcoatl or
“Turquoise-snakes,” the symbols of fire and water.
To the layman, and for that matter to many scientists,
the Aztec mythology is very confusing and intricate,
for the Aztecs had adopted bits of the mythologies
of many Mexican races and of the Mayas, and had
added them to their own. It is often impossible to
say whether deities and forms of religion were of
Aztecan or Mayan origin, for often the same gods
and myths were common to both. On the other hand,
certain gods and features of the religions were con¬
fined exclusively to one or the other race and nn ,
questionably were of distinct origin.

In addition to worshiping their various gods, the
Aztecs also worshiped the planet Venus, known to
them as Citlalpol (the Great Star) and as Tlauizcal-
pantecutli (the Lord of Dawn) and identified with
Quetzalcoatl who sometimes bore the same name, and
whose heart was supposed to have appeared in the
heavens as the morning star. The court of the
temple to quetzal contained a column bearing the
symbol of Venus; sacrifices were made to the planet
each time it appeared; and as it rose the people were
accustomed to stop up their chimneys so that no evil
might enter with the light from the star.

188 Old Civilizations or the New Would

character or embodied gods and deities, and hence
it is practically impossible to differentiate between
actual tradition or history and purely allegorical
myths.

We cannot even be certain how much of their
codices is actually records or true history, and how
much is recorded myths. But we know that they
wandered for a long time before settling down, and
that during their migrations they must have acquired
many arts and industries from tribes with whom they
came in contact. Likewise, these other races un¬
doubtedly were greatly influenced by the Aztecs.
Hence, over a vast area we find objects and remains,
as well as existing customs, which show Aztec or
rather Nahua influence or vice versa, even though
they are far beyond the boundaries of the Aztec
Empire as it existed at the time of the Spanish con¬
quest. Moreover, there were traditions among the
Aztecs, which to some extent were borne out by the
codices, and some of which still persist, to the effect
that the race remained for long periods at various
localities prior to their arrival in the Valley of
Mexico, and that colonies were established in these
places with vast stores of treasure, supplies, arms,
etc., to be used in case of emergency or as required.
According to these tales these colonies or outposts
were reserve bases forming an almost complete line
of retreat, and were strongly fortified and hidden in
the secret fastnesses of the mountains. But as
centuries passed and no need of calling upon these
reserves arose, they became forgotten and the secrets
of their locations lost, so that when at last the empire
was attacked by the Spaniards the reserve forces and

The Toltecs and Aztecs 189

treasures were unavailable. Possibly these traditions
are purely imaginary tales or myths; but there are
reasons to think that they had at least a basis of fact.
Because no one has ever discovered any of these “lost
cities” does not prove that they did not exist or that
they may not exist at the present time. There are
vast areas of practically unexplored mountain regions
in Mexico, and still larger areas wherein a city or
several cities might remain hidden and unknown. It
was these tales, and the possibility of such cities
existing, that inspired the late Thomas Janvier with
the theme of his delightful and realistic book, The
Aztec Treasure House.

At all events, it is well known that there are count¬
less temples and places of ceremonials in Mexico
which were never looted nor found by the Spaniards,
and, during and after the conquest, bands of Aztecs
sought refuge in the wilder portions of the mountains
and continued to worship their ancient gods and to
live their own lives safe from Christian interference.

From time to time reports are made of discoveries
of most remarkable and priceless specimens of an¬
cient Aztec objects in caves and secret hiding-places;
but whether these were hidden by the Indians to pre¬
vent them from falling into the hands of the Dons,
or whether they were left by refugees who survived
and maintained their rites and customs after the con¬
quest, we cannot say.

Even the history of the founding of Mexico City,
or as the Aztecs called it, Tenochtitlan, is so inter¬
woven with myth and legends that we cannot be cer¬
tain of anything regarding it. According to one
tradition the Aztecs were guided to the site by their

190 Old Civilizations of the New World

chief, Huitzilopochtli who afterward was deified as
the god of war. Upon reaching the spot, the Nahuas
observed a huge eagle resting upon a cactus and
holding a snake in its talons, and with its wings out¬
spread to the sun. This was a good omen and the
people drove piles in the mud of the lake and estab¬
lished the city. Another legend is to the effect that
the Aztecs sought refuge on the west shore of the
lake, and in the marsh discovered a sacrificial stone
on which a prisoner of war, Prince Copal, had been
sacrificed forty years previous. From a crack in
the altar a Nepal cactus had sprung up, and upon
this there perched an eagle. Considering this a pro¬
pitious sign, the high priest dove into a pool and
there met the water-god, Tlaloc, who gave permission
to build the city. As Indians are greatly influenced
by omens and signs it is not at all improbable that
the city was founded because of an eagle perching on
a cactus, and it is quite fitting that the national em¬
blem of Mexico should be an eagle holding a serpent
and resting on a cactus plant.

Whatever the truth may be as regards the estab¬
lishment of the Aztec capital, it had grown to a
most imposing city at the time of the arrival of
Cortez. At that time it contained upward of sixty
thousand houses and over three hundred thousand
inhabitants, and was more than twelve miles in cir¬
cumference. Several other towns of nearly equal
size were on the near-by islands and shores, and
“Greater Tenochtitlan” as it might have been called,
had a population totaling several millions. The city
was intersected by four broad avenues at right angles,
ru nnin g north, east, south and west. Numerous

The Toltecs and Aztecs

191

canals served as smaller thoroughfares, and the four
main roads were extended across the lake on dikes.
The houses of the lower classes were of adobe, and
those of the well-to-do were of red stone. Usually
they were but one story in height with large flat roofs
covered with flowers of which the Aztecs were pas¬
sionately fond. The houses were mainly coated with
a white stucco or cement, and everywhere, towering
far above the lesser buildings, were the pyramidal
temples or teocalli (high places) of stone. These
were built with broad winding stairs or platforms
leading to the summits whereon was the shrine of the
deity to whom the temple was dedicated and the
sacrificial stone.

The largest of these teocalli was the temple built
by king Ahuizotl and dedicated to the god of war,
Huitzilopochtli. The enclosing walls of this temple
measured nearly five thousand feet around, and were
covered with carvings of festooned braided serpents
called Coetpantli (Serpent-walls). Within the huge
court the pyramid, three hundred feet square at the
base and over three hundred feet in height, rose in six
platforms of rubble covered with stone facing held to¬
gether by cement and coated with gypsum. Three
hundred and forty steps led to the summit where
there were two triple-storied towers, each fifty-six
feet in height, containing statues of the war-god and
sacrificial stones of polished jasper. In this place
the sacred fires were kept burning perpetually, and
were tended by holy virgins. The Aztecs believed
that the extinction of the sacred fires would bring an
end to their power, and more than six hundred bra-
ders of these sacred fires were maintained in Mexico,

192 Old CmnzATioxs or the New World

City alone. Clustered about this great pyramid of
the war-god were more than forty smaller teocalli
as wed as the “Pyramid of the Skulls” (Tzompantli)
where the skulls of the victims of sacrifices were kept.
Within this, the Spaniards counted more than one
hundred and thirty-six thousand human skulls.

These t eocQ lh or pyramidal temples were typical
ot the Aztecan culture and it is doubtful if anv
American race, if indeed any race on earth, ever
erecte more massive and imposing structures, al¬
though from an architectural and engineering point
o view they were far less noteworthy than the
buildings of other American races. The Aztecs never
equaled the Mayas or the pre-Incas in their archi¬
tecture and engineering, nor in perfection of stone¬
cutting and the size of the blocks of stone employed.

u m their own way, their edifices were unexcelled
if equaled anywhere. Moreover, the types and orna¬
mentations varied greatly in different localities. In
the north of Vera Cruz there are pyramids with
roofed temples, and with massive roof-combs similar
to those of the Mayas. At Teotihuacan and at
fochicaleo there are most striking remains. The
former once the sacred city of the Nahuas, is famed
for its temples of the sun and moon with its immense
cemetery wherein the devout found their last resting-
piaces, and in a way was very similar to the holy city
of Pachacamae in Peru. The base of the Temple of
the Sun is four hundred and twenty-six feet square,
and t he pyramid riseg to a height ^ ^ ^

thirty-seven feet, while the base of the moon temple
is seven hundred and thirty-five feet square and its
height is two hundred and three feet. Upon the sum-

193

The Toltecs and Aztecs

mit of the Temple of the Sun was a huge stone im¬
age of the sun-god with his breast inlaid with a great
star of solid gold. From the pyramid of the moon
a path or road, known as the “Path of the Dead,” led
to the river through a vast burial-ground covering
over nine square miles. Here have been found
wonderful ceramics, terra-cotta figures, mosaic masks
and other objects. Many of the buildings contain
chambers over seven hundred feet square with walls
eight feet in thickness, and with mosaic floors.

Near Yezcuco is Xochicalco (the Hill of Flowers)
with beautifully sculptured blocks of porphyry more
than twelve feet in length. At Tolan, water pipes
were used, and there are also immense columns
formed of two sections mortised and tenoned to¬
gether. Perhaps the most remarkable ruins in
Mexico are those at Mitla in Oaxaca, which some
authorities consider Mayan rather than Aztecan. But
they are distinct from all known Mayan buildings,
and as the Aztec Hades was known as Mictlan we
may feel reasonably sure that it should be considered
Aztecan, or at least Nahuan. The lintel stones of the
Mitla buildings are often eighteen feet in length, the
walls are straight or perpendicular and are designed
to support roofs, instead of converging as in Mayan
architecture; and the “Hall of Columns” is a most
striking spot with its rows of immense phallic monu¬
ments. But the most remarkable features of Mitla
are the huge subterranean chambers or rooms. These
are completely lined with stone with every square
inch of the surfaces elaborately and magnificently
carved with intricate symmetrical designs. Into
-these highly ornate underground rooms or vaults

194 Old Civilizations of the New World

were cast the dead bodies of warriors and of sacrificial
victims. And here the devout or fanatical members
of the community were wont to practise a terrible
form of self-sacrifice by being voluntarily thrown in¬
to the underground charnel-house to wander among
the corpses until they died an awful lingering death
of starvation and thirst.

In stone-cutting, as in their other arts and decora¬
tions, the Aztecs used geometrical designs and pat¬
terns extensively. But they also employed many
animal, human and floral motifs, although not to
such extent as did the Mayas. They had a wonderful
eye for form, and a remarkable facility for catching
the salient features of any object and for reproduc¬
ing forms and obtaining effects by means of a few
lines, and by exaggerating certain essential details
or features. Proportion and perspective meant
nothing to the Aztec artists and were practically non¬
existent in their art. For this reason many of the
Aztec paintings and carvings have a decidedly
Japanese appearance, although invariably so typical¬
ly Aztecan that they could not be mistaken for any¬
thing else.

_ Tlle Aztec pottery was very beautiful and distinc¬
tive. Red, black and orange were the predominating
colors used, but practically every known color and
shade occur on their ceramic ware. Much of the
pottery was painted, but more was decorated by
means of pigments applied by clay stamps. Clay
molds were also employed in order to duplicate
utensils and figures, and much of their pottery had
a true glaze.

As I have mentioned, there are numerous remains.

195

*Pftf. Toltecs and Aztecs

of a very ancient and highly cultured race in Mexico,
which unquestionably antedate the Aztec Empire.
■Whether these are the remains of a totally distinct
race, such as the semimythical Toltecs, or whether
they are the earlier or archaic forms of Aztec work
has not definitely been established. But they exhibit
many features in common with the Aztecan culture,
and they grade almost insensibly into the later Aztec
types. For this reason, and because the Aztecs, if
we are to believe their own recorded history, arrived
in Mexico at a comparatively recent date, we must
assume either that the Nahuas wandered for many
hundreds or perhaps thousands of years over the
country, building cities and developing a culture and
a civilization before they established Tenochtitlan, or
else that their civilization was superimposed upon an
earlier culture and was largely borrowed. In the
former case the Aztec legend of the Toltecs was in
all probability an allegorical mythical history of their
own race, while if the latter theory is correct the story
of the Toltecs was probably built up and invented by
the Nahuas to explain the presence of the older civili¬
zation they found.

The Mexican chronicler Ixtlilxochitl, who wrote
soon after the Spanish conquest, gives two versions
of the Aztec legend of the Toltecs. In one the Tol¬
tecs are said to have reached Tlapallan (the Country
of Bright Colors) near the sea after voyaging south
from their original homes which they left in the year
“ 1-Tecpatl " (a.d. 387). Having passed Xalisco
and landed at Huatulco, they journeyed to Tochtepec
and hence overland to Tollantzinco. The other leg¬
end differs mainly in that it tells of a revolt of the

196 Ora) Civilizations of the New World

chiefs against the king of Tlapallan which forced
them to flee or suffer banishment. This took place
about a.d. 438, and after some eight years of wan¬
dering in the vicinity they migrated to a place called
Tlapallantanzinco where they remained for three
years before they commenced the century of wander¬
ings. Both myths agree that the city of Tollan at the
present site of Tula near the Valley of Mexico, was
established about a.d. 566, and that the Toltecs were
guided to this spot by the necromancer Hueymatzin
(Great Hand). The place was called the “Place of
Fruits” owing to its fertility, and six years were ex¬
pended in building the city with its palaces and
temples.

In the seventh year they elected a ruler called
Chalchiuh-Tlatonac (Shining Precious Stone) who
ruled for fifty-two years and under whose regime
the people progressed rapidly. This first dynasty
continued until about a.d. 994 when Huemac II as¬
cended the throne. At first he ruled wisely and
honestly, but later he developed licentiousness and
dishonesty which eventually caused a revolution and
omens foretelling some great calamity. Then the
mystical sorcerer, Toveyo, appeared, and, beating his
magic drum, drew the people to him. Forcing them
to dance, he gradually led them to the verge of a
precipice where they were dashed into the canyon
below and were turned to stone. Toveyo also de¬
stroyed a stone bridge with his magic, so that thou¬
sands of people perished in the river, while, to add
to the calamities of the unfortunate race, volcanoes
burst into violent eruption.

In order to placate the outraged gods, the Tollan

197

The Toltecs and Aztecs

rulers ordered wholesale sacrifices.* But when the
first victim was placed upon the altar the horrified
priest discovered that he possessed neither heart nor
blood, while such a stench arose from the body that
a pestilence followed and destroyed tl ousands.
Huemac was also attacked by the Tlaloes or gods of
rain, and after he had begged them to spare him,
offering all his riches and rank in return, they de¬
parted after threatening six years of plagues.
Droughts, floods, frosts, heat, toads and locusts fol¬
lowed, until nine-tenths of the population were
destroyed.

By this time Huemac had reformed and tried to
establish his illegitimate son, Acxitl, upon the throne.
The Toltecs rebelled at this, but their leaders were
bribed and Acxitl ruled well for a time. But he had
inherited his father’s character, so at last the people
again revolted, and, led by Huehuetzin, attacked the
city. The savage Chichimees also beset the place and
settled near. At last a council of wise men met at
the sacred city of Teotihuacan. Here they were at¬
tacked by a giant who appeared in various weird
forms, including that of a beautiful child, and who
slew most of the men, declaring that the gods were
disgusted and that all were doomed. Once again the
city was attacked by Huehuetzin and the Chichimees,
■until at last, after a three-year war, the survivors
were forced to seek refuge in the marshes of Lake
Tezcuco, and the empire came to an end.

Unquestionably, whether these legends refer to the

*This is astonishingly like what actually occurred in Panama when the pre¬
historic Cocle civilization was destroyed by an eruption, and wholesale sacri¬
fices of pottery and valuables, as well as human sacrifices, were made, (bee
Chapter VI.)

198 Old Civilizations of the New World

earlier Nahuas or to a different and still earlier race,
they are largely allegorical; but practically all
American aborigines’ traditions are filled with al¬
legories, and it is extremely difficult if not impossible
to sift the facts from the fiction. But we know that
whatever may have been their former history, the
Aztecs reached their highest attainments in many
lines after they founded the City of Mexico or
Tenochtitlan. And as they advanced in civilization and
power and subjugated other races and brought them
under Aztec dominion, they absorbed, borrowed and
adapted various features and phases of the many cul¬
tures and religions. This resulted in a very complex
mythology, a most involved religion, a remarkably
varying culture and a most elaborate and fabulously
rich and powerful court. The palace of the Monte¬
zuma, as the Aztec emperor was called, literally out¬
shone that of Solomon, and the famous king of Israel
in all his glory would have paled by comparison with
the Aztecs’ ruler. His garments were of the finest
cotton most beautifully woven in intricate symbolic
designs of many colors. His mantles were marvel¬
ous affairs formed of hundreds of thousands of tiny,
iridescent feathers from humming-birds and trogans,
and scintillated with all the prismatic brilliancy of
the rainbow. Precious stones and massive golden
jewelry adorned his arms, legs and breast. He
carried a wonderful ceremonial shield of priceless
feather mosaic. His obsidian-bladed dagger had a
hilt of carved jade and turquoise inlay, and upon his
head he wore a golden crown topped by the long,
waving, iridescent green plumes of the sacred quetzal.
Scarlet, white and green were the colors of this

199

The Toltecs and Aztecs

sacred bird; scarlet, white and green were the.royal
and ceremonial colors of the Aztecs, and to this day
red, white and green are the colors of the Mexican

flag. _

Probably no other American race was so ncii m
objects of art as the Aztecs at the time of the con-

quest. The Incas, it is true, possessed incalculable
sums in gold and silver utensils and ornaments; but
they had little else of intrinsic value,—aside from
precious stones or gems. But the Aztecs, although
not so rich in precious metals, possessed a great
amount of gold and silver in addition to vast quanti¬
ties of precious and semiprecious stones, feather
mantles and robes beyond price, and mosaics of tur¬
quoise and other materials so beautiful and valuable
that even the rapacious Spaniards appreciated and
preserved them. And yet, to the Aztecs, copper was
of greater value than anything else, and rather crude,
practically worthless copper bells served as money!

No doubt it was largely the sheer beauty and value
of Aztec mosaic and other work that caused so
many objects of Aztec art to be preserved instead
of being broken up or melted down by the Dons.
Hence the museums of the world possess an unusual
and remarkable number of specimens of Aztec
weapons, ornaments, utensils, jewels, mosaics, etc.
Fortunately, too, the Mexican Government long ago
awoke to the scientific value and importance of all
articles pertaining to the ancient inhabitants of the
country, and the Museo Nacional in Mexico City is
a veritable treasure-house of Aztec and Maya speci¬
mens. But there are more in the various museums
of the world and in private collections. Very often

200 Old Civilizations of the New World

the owners of such objects have no idea of the scien¬
tific value or even the origin of the specimens, which
have been handed down for generations, and consider
them so much “junk.” As a result, amazing “finds”
are constantly being made in the shops’ of curio and
antique dealers and pawnbrokers. No doubt many
of these have most romantic and fascinating histories
if we but knew them.

But none could have a more remarkable and inter¬
esting story than the famous Aztec calendar-stone.
This remarkable piece of stone carving is in the
form of an immense disk twelve feet in diameter and
weighing over twenty tons. It was cut from a single
block of black porphyry and was completed between
the years 1487 and 1499 A.D., if the date upon it has
been correctly interpreted. It was originally placed
in the great temple at JMexico City, but was thrown
down by the Spaniards under Cortez and was com¬
pletely buried beneath the debris and ruins of the
Aztecs’ buildings. In 1560 it was rediscovered, but
the bishop, fearing the influence of its presence upon
the Indians, ordered it reinterred. For more than
two centuries it remained buried and completely for¬
gotten and lost to the world until in 1790, when, exca¬
vating in the Plaza Mayor, workmen once more
brought the marvelous stone to light. It was then
built into the faqade of the Cathedral where it re¬
mained until 1885 when it was removed and placed
in the Museo Nacional where it still remains.

Although ordinarily referred to as a calendar, this
elaborately carved stone disk is in reality a calendar,
an Aztec history of the world, a prophecy and a
record of Aztec myths. The sculptured figures.

201

The Toltecs and .Aztecs

which at first sight appear complicated, confusing
and largely ornamental, consist in reality of symbols
and glyphs arranged about the central figure of
Tonatiah, the sun-god, with the symbol Olin, a day
sign signifying an earthquake. The historical por¬
tion is divided into five suns or ages, four of the past
and one of the present. The present age or period
is dominated by the existing sun symbol: Olin-Tona-
tiah, because the earth (according to the Aztec
prophecy) is destined to be destroyed by an earth¬
quake. Arranged about the symbol Olin are the four
past suns or cycles, each enclosed in a rectangle and
designed to be read from right to left. The first of
these symbols is Ocelotl or the jaguar; the next
Ehecatlj or the wind; the third Quiahuitl, or fire-rain,

and the last Atl, or water.

The interpretation of these is that the, first sun or

age was destroyed by a jaguar, the second cycle or
sun was destroyed by a hurricane, the third by a
rain of fire, and the fourth by a flood. Each time,
according to the symbols, one human couple escaped
destruction and lived to repopulate the earth. At
the top of the stone beneath the tails of two reptiles
is the symbol for “13-Acatl” or reed, indicating that
the present or fifth sun began or appeared in that
year. Another symbol indicates that the present sun
will end with the promised destructive earthquake
on the day “Olin-4-” This date symbol is followed by
three hieroglyphs indicating the points of the com¬
pass. Next in order, outside the historical portion of
the stone, are the twenty Aztec day signs or symbols,
while surrounding all are two reptilian monsters
meeting face to face and with their tails at the top

202 Old Civilizations of the New World

of the stone. These are the Turquoise-snakes or
Xiuhcoatl and are symbols of fire and water. In the
mouth of each is a human head representing the fire-
god, Xiuhtecutli, while on the sides of the stone are
sculptured representations of the Obsidian Butterfly,
Itzpapalotl.

To the Aztecs, no doubt, the inscriptions and
carvings upon this highly important stone meant a
great deal more than is conveyed by our interpreta¬
tion of the symbols, for, as I have said, signs and
symbols may reveal a long and detailed story to an
Indian who understands them. A striking and well-
known example of this is the sign-language of our
western plains Indians. By means of a few rapid
movements of the hands, a long and complete sen¬
tence or description may be conveyed. And in many
places, and among many tribes of South American
Indians, a few stones arranged in a certain order or a
few apparently meaningless glyphs on a rock will
give full details regarding trails, rapids, the location
of villages and other important information. So we
may feel fairly certain that the ancient Aztecs, when
looking at their great calendar-stone, could read a
full and detailed history of the past, and an equally
complete account of the prophecy for the future.

In a way this applies also to their sculptures,
paintings, idols, codices, etc. To-day, even with our
rather full and intimate knowledge of the Aztecs,
their language and their mythology, there are many
matters which still puzzle us and about which we have
no definite knowledge. For example, we cannot say
definitely why various representations of a god or
deity should vary in details of costume, decorations,

203

The Toltecs ahd Aztecs

etc., and we do not feel by any means certain that
the correct interpretation has been given to many
symbols and date signs. But undoubtedly every
variation in the figures of gods and other objects,
every dot, line and detail of a symbol, had its definite
and important meaning.

CHAPTER X

•WHERE MONTEZUMA STILL RULES

Thousands of the descendants of the Aztecs still
dwell in Mexico, and while some retain many of their
ancient arts, crafts, languages and even their dress

and home life, they are largely civilized, and are_

outwardly at least—Christians. Even when they
have their tribal or village chiefs, they are merely
units in the Mexican republic. But by far the greater
portion of the Mexican Indians whose ancestors were
members of the Aztec Empire have completely for¬
gotten their ancient customs and manner of life, even
their tribal names in fact, and in every way are
thorough Latin Americans. The bulk of the Indian
population of Mexico belongs to the laboring or peon
class, or are farmers, small tradesmen, vaqueros,
artizans, etc. But many of the most prominent and
wealthy Mexicans, many of Mexico’s most note¬
worthy politicians, generals, statesmen, jurists, edu¬
cators, artists, authors and scientists are of pure
Indian blood, and can trace their ancestry back to the
Aztecs. Even presidents of the republic have come
from the ranks of the Indians, and Indian blood
flows in the veins of the majority of the country’s
population. But nowhere in Mexico, as far as is
known, are there Indians who still retain the religion,
the customs and the traditions of the Aztecs, or who
perpetuate the name of the Montezuma.

204

Where Montezuma Stiul Rules 205

So complete was the conquest by the Spaniards, so
tireless the priests in establishing missions, so ruthless
and fanatical in destroying everything savoring of
paganism, that within a comparatively short time af¬
ter the conquest only the most remote, inaccessible
and valiant tribes managed to maintain a semblance
of independence and a portion of their own customs
and habits. But the Aztec Empire had established
far-distant colonies and provinces, some of which were
as far south as Panama. Originally, no doubt, these
outposts of the Empire were in more or less direct
and constant communication with the headquarters in
Mexico; but they were separated by hundreds of
miles of wild country inhabited by savage, hostile
tribes; they were frequently attacked, and many
were completely wiped out, while others were cut off
from the rest of their race, and in the course of years
their existence, even their locations were forgotten.
Left to their own devices, dependent upon them¬
selves, forced constantly to battle with savage neigh¬
bors who surrounded them, the members of these
colonies gradually lost much of their arts, civilization
and religion, and reverted to a semibarbarous state.
No doubt many of them became so greatly altered by
environment and admixture with other races that all
traces of Aztec ancestry were lost, and to all intents
and purposes they became distinct tribes. But in one
case at least, even to the present day, the language
survived, many of the Aztec customs remained, and
their ruler has always been known as Montezuma.

These people are the Guaymfs of northwestern
Panama, who dwell in the fastnesses of the high
mountain plateaus, who have never been conquered.

206 Old Civilizations of the New Would

and who have sedulously and successfully guarded
their territory and their race from the encroachment
of the whites. Few strangers have ever penetrated
beyond the borders of their territory, for the Guay-
mfs have learned from the bitter experience of their
fellows and neighbors that the coming of the white
man spells the doom of the Indian. For over thirty
years they resisted the Spaniards, until at last the
Dons gave up, feeling the game was not worth the
candle, and left the Guaymis unconquered and inde¬
pendent. Their territory became recognized as an
Indian zone where the Guaymis were supreme, and
each succeeding government has officially recognized
the Guaymi country as a “Zona de los Indigenos” to
be left alone. How many of the tribe dwell within
this zone it is impossible to say, but at the time I
visited them I calculated, from information given me
by the various chiefs, that the tribe numbered more
than thirty thousand.

Physically and mentally they are far superior to
the other Central American tribes. They average
much taller than most tropical Indians, and are well
built and proportioned. Their color varies from an
ocher or russet to a light olive, many of the women
being no darker than a brunette white woman. The
eyes are straight, fairly large and are not infrequent¬
ly brown or hazel. The hair is rather fine and is a
deep brown rather than black, and in the case of the
women is often decidedly tawny. The typical Guay-
mf face is rather oval, with broad forehead, high
but not very prominent cheek-bones, heavy rounded
chin, and a straight or slightly aquiline nose with
high well-developed bridge. Like many other tribes.

Wheee Montezuma Still Rules 207

they file or rather chip the front teeth to points, and
occasionally cut decorative notches in them.

They are primarily agriculturalists and cultivate
cacao, upland rice, maize, sugar-cane, tobacco, coffee
and many vegetables and fruits. They own many
cattle and horses, and are typical “horse Indians,
although when traversing the fearful mountain trails
they prefer to trust to their own bare feet and, re¬
markably enough, usually travel by night.. But they
seem to possess the eyes of cats, and in the inky dark¬
ness they cross narrow hog-backs between yawning
abysses and scale dizzying precipices as surely and
fearlessly as though following a road in full daylight.
They have no villages but dwell in single, or some¬
times groups of two or three, houses many miles
apart. Their houses are well built with walls of split
logs and high, steeply pitched roofs of palm thatch,
and are large, often sixty feet in length, twenty feet
wide and thirty feet high. Each house is, in effect,
a self-contained community of from ten to thirty or
more individuals. Around the walls are a number
of raised platforms, often partitioned off by palm-
leaf mats. Each of these is occupied by a separate
family, all the occupants of the building being, as a
rule, related or of the same clan. The members of
each family sleep, dress and keep their personal pos¬
sessions in these separate apartments, but all share
equally in the use of the main house and its furnish¬
ings, although usually each family has its own fire.

The furnishings of the house are simple but ample
for all needs. Somewhere along one wall will be a
long seat or bench, there are numerous carved wooden
stools or rawhide chairs, and often there will be a

208 Old Civilization's of the New World

rude but serviceable affair of split palm bark sup¬
ported on posts which serves as a table. Occasionally
there will be hammocks, but as a rule the Guaymis
prefer to sleep upon mats or hides spread upon
springy palm-wood platforms or on couches. Un¬
like the majority of Indians, especially those of
Central and South America, the Guaymis are clean¬
ly in habits and are quite alive to the importance of
sanitation. The hard-packed earth floor of the house
is swept several times a day; all provisions are kept on
raised platforms or are hung upon rafters and posts;
drinking water is stored in jars and calabashes which
are kept covered and out of reach of dirt and dogs,
and no live stock other than the dogs are allowed in
the houses. Great care is taken to build the houses
upon raised ground so situated that there is no chance
of drainage reaching the near-by stream that supplies
the drinking water, and no one is permitted to bathe
or wash in this stream, a separate brook or river be¬
ing used for such purposes. Even latrines are pro¬
vided, and in their personal habits and dress the
people are far more cleanly than the average white
man.

The costume of the women consists of a loose
wrapper-like garment reaching from neck to ankles,
usually of brilliant color and often ornamented with
drawn-work and with geometrical designs of ap-
pliqued cloth in contrasting colors. The men’s cos¬
tume is more elaborate and is totally unlike that of
any other known tribe of the present day. It con¬
sists of a loose blouse or smock of vivid green, orange,
blue, yellow or red, elaborately tucked and with
bosom, shoulders and sometimes sleeves ornamented

Whebe Montezuma Still Rules 209

with appliqued designs, and trousers of homespun
blue or white cotton with appliqued patterns along
the outer seams of the legs. The designs used on
the garments, as well as on all other articles and
utensils, are geometrical, and are distinctively Aztec-
an, frequently being exact replicas of the motifs
used in the decorative carvings at Mitla and else¬
where in Mexico.

About their necks, the men wear close-fitting col¬
lars of magnificent beadwork; broad beadwork gor¬
gets cover the upper part of the chest; there are
necklets of teeth, seeds and claws, and frequently a
short apron-like breech-cloth of bright-colored cotton,
of woven fiber or even of beadwork is worn. Ordi¬
narily both men and women wear hand-plaited palm-
leaf hats, usually with a band of feathers about the
crown. For ceremonial occasions, for dances and at
various other times the men wear feather head-dresses
consisting of a pita or cotton fillet to which are
attached the plumes of various birds, the particular
kind of feathers used depending upon the rank or
official status of the wearer and the occasion. Thus
ordinary members of the tribe may use owl, hawk,
parrot, macaw, wild turkey, heron, eagle and many
other feathers according to individual taste or the
class of the function which they are to attend. But no
one other than a dance-chief may use the plumes of
the egret; medicine-chiefs are recognized by head¬
dresses of hair from the tail of the giant ant-bear;
ranking chiefs are designated by one or two plumes
of the quetzal in their feather crowns; and the regal
head-dress of the high chief or Montezuma is entirely
of the longest, most magnificent plumes of this

210 Old Civilizations of the New World

sacred bird of the Aztecs. But as one individual is
often a ranking chief, a dance-chief and a medicine-
chief, or holds any two of these positions, he wears
the crown indicative of the rank in which he is serving
at the time. Although when about their houses or
in good weather the men and women wear the gar¬
ments described, when working or when traveling
through the mountains in rainy weather they strip
to breech-cloths and carry their more conventional
apparel in waterproof coverings of homespun cotton
coated with crude rubber.

Both men and women paint their faces but do not
tattoo. As the facial paintings are not purely decora¬
tive, but are of a symbolic character, and as it is im¬
portant that each design should always be the same,
the Guaymis use carved wooden stamps for applying
the colors. Only the Indians themselves know the
full significance of all the facial paintings, for they
are as numerous, as varied and as complicated as the
glyphs upon an Aztec sculpture. But some of them
are simple and easily recognized. Diagonal lines
meeting at the bridge of the nose and extending
across the cheeks beneath the eyes toward the corners
of the lower jaw form the tribal mark. Just below
these are the clan or family symbols; rank is indicated
by markings upon the nose and chin; married and
single persons are distinguished by forehead marks,
and there are designs and colors to show whether the
individual is to participate in a dance, a religious
ceremony, a feast, a council, a marriage or a funeral,
while other symbols indicate a courier on official busi¬
ness, a chief’s deputy, a messenger, or even the par¬
ticular district where the individual dwells.

Where Montezuma Still Rules 211

In their social and governmental systems the
Guaymis are unusual. Each household has its own
head-man, although he is not always the patriarch of
the family group, but may be regarded as the head
of the family because of his intelligence, his ability
or merely because he is a general favorite. The heads
of the various houses are subject to sub-chiefs elected
by them, and gather in council and consult with the
latter on all local matters of importance. Each of
these sub-chiefs may be in virtual control of a num¬
ber of houses covering a wide area and all are sub¬
ject to three ranking hereditary chiefs, each in charge
of a definite section of the tribal territory. Finally
there is the supreme chief or Montezuma who oc¬
cupies the position of emperor or king and rules all.
But only upon the rarest occasions or for some
matter of paramount importance do the ranking
chiefs call upon Montezuma for a decision or support,
and comparatively few of the tribe have ever seen
their king.

The Guaymi religion is basically a modified sun-
worship, the belief being that the sun is the visible
manifestation of a supreme deity who rules the uni¬
verse, while the moon and stars are lesser deities, each
controlling certain matters and destinies, an ar¬
rangement so similar to their own form of govern¬
ment that we may reasonably suspect that one was
patterned after the other. In addition to these major
spirits, every mountain, river and natural formation,
as well as trees, rocks, vegetables and all living crea¬
tures are thought to have their own special “gods” or
spirits, all of whom are subject to the special spirit
controlling human beings and their destinies. Un-

212 Old Civilizations of the New World

like the majority of tribes, the Guaymis have few
evil spirits or “devils” to bother them, and these they
consider stupid and easily deceived. Hence there are
few ceremonies or observances for the purpose of
exorcising devils, and nearly all the Guaymi relig¬
ious and ceremonial activities are devoted to pleasing
the beneficent gods and expressing gratitude for
benefits received. Strictly speaking, they have no
idols, but they are rich in fetishes, charms and prox¬
ies. The use of the latter has probably been carried
further by the Guaymis than by any other known
tribe. No Guaymi ever dreams of barring or other¬
wise securing the entrance to his home when he and
his clan desert the dwelling to attend some distant
festivity or for another purpose. Before leaving, he
places a rather crude wooden image, representing
the household god, in his doorway, and goes his way,
quite secure in the belief that the painted wooden
figure will act as his proxy and maintain guard over
the house and its contents until he returns. More¬
over, he implicitly believes that this proxy is actually
possessed with his own spirit and that, should any
one have the courage to enter the house or do any
harm, the wooden sentinel will at once notify him by
a sort of mental telepathy. And of course, as the
belief is universal, no Indian, seeing the proxy on
guard, would dare ignore its presence.

It is during their dances and religious ceremonials
that these Indians carry the use of proxies to the
utmost extreme. While among the Guaymis I was
privileged to witness one of these ceremonials, in fact,
even to take part in, and, owing to my having suc¬
cessfully treated the presiding dance-chief and cured

Where Montezuma Still Rules 213

him of colic so that he could proceed with the cere¬
monies, I was honored by being made a member of
the tribe with the rank of medicine-chief.

The ceremonial took place upon a flat-topped
mountain at an elevation of over five thousand feet
above the sea in the very heart of the Guaymi coun¬
try. Here an immense ceremonial house or temple
had been erected and from far and near the Indians
had been summoned by means of message strings
(see Chapter XIV) sent out by couriers from the
various chiefs. I had become friendly with one of
the ranking chiefs, Neonandi, and had been living
in his house for some time. In his company and with
him to vouch for me, I was to be permitted to witness
some portions of the ceremony. Over three thousand
Indians, men, women and children, gathered at the
meeting-place, and as it was rumored that Montezu¬
ma was to appear in person, excitement ran high, but
as hour after hour passed without a sign of his ap¬
proach it began to look as if the Guaymi king had
changed his mind. Then, from far off came the faint
sound of a cow-horn trumpet, and with shouts of
“Montezuma; Montezuma!” the Indians commenced
beating drums and blowing horns and whistles. I
had expected to see a wizened, wrinkled old chief,
but to my amazement he was a young man, well built
and very light-skinned, with regular features, a
dignified expression, broad forehead and intelligent
face. His costume differed in no way from that of
his subjects, but his crown of quetzal tail plumes set
off by a band of golden and scarlet macaw feathers
was a truly regal affair. With the arrival of Monte¬
zuma preparations were made to commence the cere-

214 Old Civilizations of the New World

monies. As the sun set, the Indians lighted flaring
torches and gathered in a great throng about
the ceremonial house. Drums boomed, flutes and
whistles shrilled and rattles shook, until the combined
sounds rose to a deafening roar. Then, slowly at
first, but with ever increasing speed, the Indians com¬
menced dancing round and round the temple, chant¬
ing in unison, keeping time to the throbbing drums
and piping flutes, and alternately stooping low or
leaping up in regular order until the moving stream
of figures appeared like an immense serpent gliding
in sinuous curves about the building. This, in fact,
was exactly what it was supposed to represent, for
the ceremonial was a feast in honor of the Plumed
Serpent god of the ancient Aztecs. Suddenly the
music stopped, and silently the dancers slipped away
and vanished within the sacred precincts of the tem¬
ple. From within came a weird chant, a wailing ca¬
dence, and the slow measured beat of drums. I was
of course anxious to enter and witness what was tak¬
ing place, but Neonandi cautioned me against it. The
evil spirits were being driven out, he explained, and
if I went near they might take possession of me.

Presently the music and chanting ceased, Neo¬
nandi touched my arm and, beckoning for me to fol¬
low him, led the way into the building. Within, the
beams and rafters were draped with flowers, birds’
skins, jaguar and ocelot pelts and streamers of dyed
cotton cloth. In the center stood an altar-like table
piled high with every variety of food known to the
Guaymis and decorated with corn-stalks, flower-
covered coffee-tree branches, sugar-cane flowers and
brilliant orchids. Guttering torches cast a fitful

Wheee Montezuma Stile Rules 215

crlare over the scene and filed the temple with
aromatic, resinous smoke. Round one side the men
were seated, row after row of closely packed, savage¬
looking figures staring fixedly ahead, smoking their
ceremonial pipes of carved stone. Between them and
the central altar was a fire of huge logs, and over
this girls were cooking thick unsweetened chocolate,
while others stirred an immense pot of rice chicha.
Moving silently about, other girls were passing the
chicha and hitter chocolate to the men; and on the
farther side of the altar sat scores of women, their
long hair falling over their faces and their eyes fixed
upon the floor. All about the altar were placed
small earthenware effigies of birds, beasts, reptiles
and fish, with a few human figures, some monsters
that resembled ogres or devils, and many miniature
clay pots, dishes and plates.

Following the short ceremony of adopting me as
a member of the tribe, which was an amazing sur¬
prise on my part, the assembled Indians rose and
commenced a slow wailing chant. The barbaric
music was then resumed, while the old dance-chief
(whom I had recently cured) took his place beside
the altar carrying a “devil-stick” in one hand. Then,
in perfect rhythm, the Indians began dancing around
and around the altar, following the sinuous, snake¬
like formation I have mentioned. Every now and
again one would shout the name of some beast, bird,
person or spirit. Then, leaping aside from the line of
dancers, he would seize a handful of food from the
altar, thrust some into his mouth, stoop quickly and
drop some into one of the tiny clay dishes, and toss
the remainder into the fire. At the same time the

216 Old Civilizations or the New World

dance-chief would pick up the image of the creature
or being whose name had been called, together with
the dish of food, and breaking them into hits, would
throw the fragments into the flames. This continued
until the last of the images had been destroyed. . It
was a strange, interesting and incomprehensible rite,
but Neonandi willingly explained it. The images
represented persons who, through illness or other
causes, could not attend the ceremony; birds and
beasts who could not be present, and mythological
beings. According to Guaymi belief the spirits of
these would enter their respective images and thus
take part in the ceremonial by proxy. The food up¬
on the altar was for them, but being unable to eat it
while in their clay forms, the Indians acted as proxies
while the dance-chief destroyed the images in order
to release the spirits so that they might return to
their own bodies. Then, in order to prevent evil
spirits from taking possession of the images and
causing trouble for their former tenants, he burned
both the fragments and the food in the fire. In other
words, the images served as proxies for persons,
beasts and supernatural beings, and the dancing In¬
dians acted as proxies for the proxies.

The ceremonies came to an abrupt end when the
last of the clay proxies had been destroyed, and,
leaving the temple, the Indians prepared for a stick-
dance. In this remarkable dance, which is of a
symbolic character, the participants pair off, one of
each pair being armed with a six-foot pole several
inches in diameter and sharpened at one end. While
his partner dances about, back to him, he hurls the
stick, the object being to knock the dancer’s legs

Where Mosttezuma Still Rules 217

from under him. If he succeeds, the dancer must
continue until he dodges the stick, whereupon it be¬
comes his turn to throw the missile while the former
thrower dances. Naturally, bruised and even broken
legs frequently result, but serious injuries are rare,
for every participant wears the stuffed skin of some
upon his back in order to protect his spine.
With from fifty to several hundred Indians dancing
about and throwing the heavy sticks the fun becomes
fast and furious, and football seems gentle by com

parison. . .

On the following day the Indians took part m

various sports and competitions: in archery, running,
spear-throwing, etc. Much to my amazement
found that the Guaymis were still using the ancient
spear-throwing-stick or atlatl of the Aztecs and that
their name for it was natla-tdi. Although t ey
use powerful bows and long arrows, yet wherever
it is possible to do so, they prefer the throwing-stick
and spear, and, at distances up to thirty or forty
yards, the spear thus thrown is more accurate than

their arrows. .

In their arts the Guaymis are extremely skilful.
They spin and weave their native cotton into excel¬
lent cloth; their pottery, although rather plain, is
well made, durable and well modeled. They make
baskets of many forms and weaves and of many
materials; they plait palm-leaf hats many of which
are the equals of the famed so-called panama hats;
they are good wood-carvers; their chakaras or
pouches of pita fiber are so finely woven that they
will hold water, and their beadwork is magnificent,
the weave or stitch used being quite distinct from that

218 Old Civilizations of the New World

of any other known tribe. They also manufacture
many articles of horsehair, and they are the only In¬
dians who, as far as is known, have ever invented a
mechanical device. This is an arrangement for spin¬
ning or rather twisting horsehair and fibers into string
and rope. It consists of a wooden frame with a rotat¬
ing spindle equipped with a balance and operated by
a bow and string. It is, in effect, a giant cotton-spin¬
dle fitted in a frame and operated on the principle of
a how-drill. As I have already mentioned, practically
all the Guaymi decorative designs are of geometrical
forms, Aztecan in character; but they have a wonder¬
ful eye for form and not infrequently reproduce hu¬
man and animal figures with great fidelity. This is
particularly true of the miniature terra-cotta figures
used as proxies. Many of these are truly remark¬
able examples of modeling, and are so accurate in all
their details that the species of bird, quadruped, in¬
sect or reptile is easily recognizable. This is the more
remarkable inasmuch as these images are designed for
temporary use only and are destined to be destroyed,
and it would seem that a crudely made effigy would
serve every purpose. But the Guaymls argue that as
the images are to provide abiding-places for spirits
they must be so true to nature that each spirit will at
once recognize the figurine intended for it. Hence,
in the case of the effigies representing human beings,
every peculiarity, injury or deformity of the original
is reproduced so that there can be no possible mistake
as to the identities of the individuals they represent.

For musical instruments the Guaymls use drums,
whistles of various kinds, cane and bone flutes, Pan’s-
pipes, orcharinas, some of clay and others made from

Where Montezuma Still Rules 219

dried seeds or nuts of a forest tree, cow-horn trump¬
ets rattles of several kinds, and a stringed instrument
X single string. Although their musm ,s «d
primarily as accompaniments to dances andcere
Dials, practically every man cames a_tate,M
whistle or orcharina upon Ins person, an p 7 V
the instrument almost contmuously as he moves

Strangely enough, these Indians are very defi
cient in traditions, myths and folk-lore, and, as far as
I could learn, they have no tales to account _
origin of the various creatures as do most tribes, b
are quite satisfied with their explanation that the ■
spirits or deities, being all powerful, created things as

^Another peculiar custom ot the tribe is their haMt
of smearing objects with a mixture of grease and soot
len they are to be used for ceremonial purposes.
Pots, dishes, baskets, images, musical instruments,
stools, weapons,-every article or utensil used . »

ceremony-must bear smudges of greasy bla •
Black is symbolic of night or secrecy, and, as the
Guaymis believed that the evil spirits are stupid and
easily deceived, they smear black upon their various
articles, feeling certain that the evil sprits mU then .U
unable to see them, or at least cannot find a way to en
ter them. Ordinary soot and grease will not serve for
this purpose, however. The pigment must be made
from the charred bones of a jaguar or ocelot mixed
with the grease from a snake. Here again, the Az ec
influence comes to the front in the combination of
jaguar and serpent in connection with s f cred ce ^
monies, for both held prominent places in Aztecan

220 Old Citilizations of the New World

mythology. And in addition there is the symbolic
significance of the two creatures. The jaguar, being
a night-prowler, is a symbol of secrecy, while the ser
pent is the symbol of wisdom and cunning. Some¬
what similarly, to prevent evil spirits from taking
possession of various articles, the Guaymis invariably
break or change the design, color or pattern on every¬
thing they make. Sometimes this “devil-trap” is very
obvious; but more often it is so cleverly concealed
that it is difficult to .discover. It may be merely a
slight interruption in a line, an abrupt change of
color, an extra figure, an alteration in the weave, or
any one of innumerable methods of preventing a pat-
tern or weave from being perfectly symmetrical.

evil-fetishes, m the forms of small images, oddly
shaped or colored pebbles or other objects are always
carried by the Indians, while devil-sticks are al¬
ways present before the houses or somewhere about
the settlements. These consist of slender sticks split
at one end and with a short stick placed in the slit,
thus forming a sort of rude cross. There is no con¬
nection however, between these and the Christian
cross, the idea of the crossed devil-stick being to
confuse or frighten evil beings. Whether or not the
Guaymis ever indulge in human sacrifices or in can¬
nibalism, I cannot say; but the neighboring Indians
insist that they do, and they certainly hold symbolic
sacrifices, using figurines of human beings and ani¬
mals as offerings to their gods.

As might be expected, most of the ancient Aztec
customs and observances have been lost or forgotten
during the centuries that the tribe has been isolated.
During all that time there have been the influences of

Whebe Montezuma Still Rules 221

the neighboring tribes to offset the inherited charac¬
teristics. The wonder is that any of the old survives.
Yet, in their dialect, the Guaymfs are distinctly Az-
tecan, and over forty per cent, of the words in their
language are almost pure Nahuatl.

CHAPTER XI

THE KINGDOM OP THE GRAND CHIMIJ

The visitor to the west coast of South America,
who stops at the port of Salavery, Peru, is within a
few miles of one of the most remarkable and impor¬
tant prehistoric cities of the New World. This is
Chan-Chan, the capital of the once powerful Chimu
Kingdom whose ruler was the Chimu-Capac or Great
King of the Chimus. Long before the beginning of
the Incan dynasty the Chimus had established them¬
selves upon the Peruvian coast, and had conquered
and cultivated the land from the present Ecuadorean
border to the vicinity of the present city of Lima,
Throughout this district, comprising approximately
ten thousand square miles, the Chimus had established
towns, villages and cities, had erected enormous walls
and fortresses, had built great temples and palaces,
had laid out roads, and had designed and carried out
vast irrigation projects which would be a credit to

any modern engineer. Many of these are still in use
to-day.

They had attained to a culture or civilization su¬
perior, in many respects, to that of the Incas, and
had developed certain arts and industries to a point
never attained by any other American race. Their
textiles were magnificent; their feather costumes,
robes and head-dresses were beyond compare; their
pottery was of the highest class; their wood-carving

222

The Kingdom of the Grand Chime 223

the equal of any, and while they did little or nothing
in the line of masonry or stonework, but used adobe
almost exclusively, they had invented a process of
adobe sculpture which was not known to any other
race. But it was in metal work that they had attained
the highest and most remarkable skill. Not only did
they smelt copper, gold, silver and even platinum,
and form the metals into innumerable utensils, orna¬
ments, weapons, musical instruments and decorations,
but they discovered the art of metal-plating. From
the tombs and graves at Chan-Chan, and elsewhere
within the Chimu district, have come many articles
of metal which are actually astounding. Among
these are masks, beads, ornaments and utensils of cop¬
per plated with gold; similar objects plated with
silver, and silver objects gold plated. So perfectly
and evenly is the plating done that any one exami¬
ning them would declare that they were electroplated
if their origin were not known.

However, as it is beyond belief that the Chimus
possessed any knowledge of electricity, we must
formulate some other theory to explain their process
of plating one metal with another. Possibly it was
accomplished by some chemical process, although this
seems as incredible as the electrolytic process would
be. Possibly it might have been done by some
method of dipping the object to be coated in molten
metal; but in that case it would appear impossible
that a thin copper or silver article would not instantly
be melted and combined with the molten gold. It has
been suggested that the objects were coated with some
kind of adhesive or lacquer, sprinkled with metal-
dust and burnished; but there are no indications of

224 Old Civilizations of the New World

such a process having been employed, and no traces
of any underlying preparation. The only plausible
explanation appears to be that the plating was ac¬
complished by means of fumes; that, by some manipu¬
lation of molten gold or silver, fumes were given off
which deposited a metallic coating on another metal.
But however it was done, there can be no question
that it is a lost art.

Even in their ordinary metal working the Chimus
showed the most remarkable dexterity and the
greatest artistic taste and skill. Various methods
were used. Metals were cast, beaten, welded,
pressed, built up or spun into innumerable forms, and
objects of large size were frequently made entirely of
massive gold. In the American Museum of Natural
History in New York City there is a small collection
of specimens of Chimu gold-work which has no equal
anywhere. Among these specimens are large pots or
jars of solid gold, beautifully wrought and chased
gold plates and plaques, and tall, gracefully formed
vases of the precious metal. Gold, among the Chi¬
mus, had no intrinsic value apparently, but was
prized for its ductility, its beauty and its enduring
qualities. Though they possessed vast quantities of
gold, yet, as far as is known, gold does not occur in
the district they occupied. It is presumed that they
inust have acquired their supply from other tribes or
races living in the gold-producing districts of the in¬
terior, or, possibly, from some other country.

Regardless of where and how they ma y have ob¬
tained their gold, there is no question about the vast
amount in the possession of the Chimus. No one
knows how much they had. The early Spaniards

The Kingdom of the Grand Chimtj 225

looted temples, cities, palaces and tombs of incredible
quantities and kept no records. There are countless
ruins and hundreds of thousands of burials which
have never been excavated or robbed of their gold.
During the four centuries that have passed since the
advent of the Europeans into the district, huaca, or
grave-digging for the sake of gold, has been regular
and lucrative industry in the kingdom of the Grand
Chimu. In most cases no records have been kept of
the treasure thus obtained, and probably there is more
gold remaining in the graves and ruins than has ever
been taken from them. But some vague idea of the
incalculable wealth of the Chimus may be obtained
from the few available records in existence. Thus we
know from documents still preserved in Trujillo that
during the twenty-six years from 1566 to 1592 over
two million dollars’ worth of gold and silver was ob¬
tained from the Huaca de Toledo alone. Moreover,
this represents only the amount upon which the Royal
quinta, or one-fifth, was paid to the government, and
no doubt a far greater quantity was removed sur¬
reptitiously and no tax paid upon it. Yet only a
comparatively small portion of the tombs in the bur¬
ial-mound known as the Huaca de Toledo have been
rifled, and there are several other burial-mounds in
the vicinity as large as this which have scarcely been
scratched.

In addition to the gold and silver articles, these
Chimu burials yield marvelous treasures in the form
of textiles, pottery, copperware, feather costumes,
carved woodwork, pearls, mother-of-pearl work and
mosaics. Some of the examples of the latter are won¬
derful specimens of a highly developed art. There

226 Old Civilizations of the New World

are vases, cups, ceremonial utensils, ear-plugs, breast¬
plates, wooden utensils and other objects of wood,
clay and other materials highly and beautifully em¬
bellished by mosaic inlay work of bone, colored stone
and mother-of-pearl, as well as of precious metals.
There are ponchos and robes of the most magnificent¬
ly woven textiles completely covered with pendent
ornaments of gold, silver and mother-of-pearl, and
there are weapons, utensils, vessels, crowns and mu¬
sical instruments of solid silver.

Being a coastwise race and greatly dependent upon
fishing, the Chimus, as might be expected, to large
extent employed fish and marine creatures as motifs
in their arts and decorations. But they were equally
skilful in reproducing bird, mammal, vegetable and
human forms. Much of their pottery, in fact the
greater portion of it, was of this imitative type, and
their so-called portrait jars have no equals anywhere.
These were vessels of various shapes bearing heads,
faces or entire figures of men and women as perfectly
modeled and as accurate in every detail as any sculp¬
tures known to man. Every known type and every
possible emotion were depicted upon these. Many
were unquestionably modeled from life and were in¬
tended as portraits or busts of actual individuals,
while others were probably caricatures or cartoons.
Even these are carried out with a fidelity that is
actually amazing. Not only do they serve to give us
an accurate idea of the physical appearances of the
Chimu people, but they illustrate exactly what the
Chimus wore as garments and decorations, how they
worked and played, the musical instruments they
used, how they lived, cooked, cultivated the earth.

The Kingdom oe the Grand Chimtj 227

fished, hunted and fought. They form, in fact, a
pictorial record of the entire organization, occupa¬
tions, life and customs of the race. An d the vessels
modeled to represent other forms, such as fruits and
vegetables, marine animals, birds, mammals, insects
and so forth, are just as true to life and as beautifully
and accurately made. As there are many duplicates
among these vessels it is evident that they were made
in molds. In fact, such molds are often found and
may still be used for forming vessels the precise
counterparts of those produced by the Chimus cen¬
turies before Europeans landed in the New World.
Just why the Chimus should have made so many of
these portrait and effigy jars, and why they should
have manufactured such an infinite variety of forms,
has always been a puzzle. It has been surmised that
they were ceremonial, and we know that some were.
F or example, one common form, showing a man with
an exaggerated nose and accompanied by an
ear of maize, was the corn-god, and it was customary
to bury such jars in the fields when planting, so as to
insure a large and successful crop.

Recently, however, Doctor Tello, of the Larco-
Herera Museum of Lima, has suggested that these
vessels may have served as records: that they were,
in effect, words or rather hieroglyphic symbols in
pottery form, and that, by some arrangement the
secret of which is unknown, they were utilized much
in the same manner as a child uses wooden alphabeti¬
cal blocks. Each form, according to this theory, is a
symbol signifying a certain idea or thought, and it is
easy to understand how such a means of recording
historical or other events might have been carried

228 Old Civilizations op the New World

out with these vessels. For example, suppose it was
desired to record a year in which locusts destroyed
crops and famine followed. A jar representing an
ear of maize could be placed beside a pot in the form
of a locust, and next to this could be placed a human
figure greatly emaciated and showing every sign
of being on the point of death from starvation.
Other symbols could be used to record the year, the
month or even the day of the disaster. Thus, ’with
the endless array of forms and variations, and the in¬
calculable number of combinations possible with
these, any message, idea or event could be recorded
and conveyed. Such a theory would explain why so
many duplicates are found. On the whole it seems
a reasonable theory. But the objection to it is that
no one has yet discovered these imitative vessels ar¬
ranged m any such orderly manner, nor has any one
yet been able to suggest any intelligible interpreta¬
tion of such groups of vessels as have been found to¬
gether.

In addition to these portrait and imitative natural
forms, there are many vessels representing, in quite
gruesome details, cadavers, skeletons, death’s heads,
amputated limbs, malformations, wounds, tortures,
sacrifices and death throes. Others show surgeons
performing both minor and major operations, for,
despite the crude instruments available and the prob¬
able lack of all anesthetics and antiseptics, these pre¬
historic races performed many operations which
would be a credit to the medical profession of to¬
day.^ Not only the Chimus, but many other
prehistoric races amputated limbs, trepanned skulls,
removed eyes, performed abdominal operations, re-

The Kingdom op the Grand Chimu 229

moved organs and filled, crowned and bridged teeth.
Moreover, although there are no records to tell us
what percentage of the patients died, yet we know
from skeletons and skulls that many of the most se¬
rious operations were entirely successful. Large
numbers of skulls have been found which have been
trepanned, the area of bone removed varying from a
very small amount less than a half-inch in diameter
to huge pieces several inches square. Apparently
the prehistoric surgeon considered trepanning a sort
of universal cure-all, if we are to judge from the
number of such skulls known. But it must be re¬
membered that head wounds were, no doubt, the com¬
monest type of injuries received by races whose
weapons were largely axes, maces and slings. At any
rate, despite the crude instruments used and the fact
that in many cases the section of skull was removed
by hacking, chipping or sawing the bone with sharp
stones, the patients often survived. Many of the
skulls show the bone healed about the edges of the
incisions. It is difficult to say whether we should be
more astonished at the skill or rather temerity of these
prehistoric surgeons or at the fortitude of their pa¬
tients who underwent the unspeakable agonies and
tortures of such surgery and still survived.

A great many of the vessels are also of the so-
called erotic type. In these every known form of
social and solitary vice is portrayed with a realism
and frankness that would put our most questionable
sex plays and novels to shame, and which outdo any
medical work. The purpose of these is as puzzling as
the other forms described. Some claim that they
were merely obscene and prove the makers morally a

230 Old Civilizations of the New World

most degenerate race. Others declare they were
merely representations of actualities and were added
to make the molded records of the people complete
Others claim with equal reason that they were used
m a more or less educational maimer and were, in ef-
fect, pathological exhibits for the suppression of vice.
Still others beheve they were ceremonial and were
used in sex-worship, while others find in them a sym-
o ic significance and a use in expressing ideas in con¬
nection with other vessels when arranged in proper
chronological order. *

In addition to all these imitative and portrait
forms, the Chimus made most beautifully painted
and decorated pottery, often bearing carefully exe¬
cuted and accurately drawn scenes from their daily
i e. And, like several other races, they at times
formed conventional and symmetrical designs by dis¬
secting human beings and animals and employing the
various parts to produce patterns and motifs which,
at first sight, seem wholly made up of arbitral
forms. Many of these conventionalized fragments
of anatomy might readily be mistaken for symbols
or characters, and quite a number of persons have
erroneously considered them pictographs or hiero¬
glyphs, a few even going so far as to declare them
Chinese characters.

A great deal of the Chimu pottery is of a fine red
and white type while a very large proportion is of a
peculiar, highly finished black clay.

Asa rule, when we find a race excelling in one art
or m ustry, we find the people deficient in some other
,. ' . Chimus as well as most Peruvian pre-

is one races appear to have been masters of all

The Kingdom of the Gkaot» Chime' 231

trades. Their cities, although built of adobe, were
well planned and laid out, and contained plazas, open
courts, straight wide streets, fine buildings and im¬
posing palaces and temples. Their forts, always
placed at most strategic spots, were designed with
a consummate knowledge of military science and
were built with ramparts, salients, arrow-slits, para¬
pets and ramparts strikingly like those of the medie¬
val European fortresses.

Since the Chimus still existed (though wholly
under Incan domination) at the time of the Spanish
conquest, we know more of their habits, history, cus¬
toms, dialect and other matters than of many pre¬
historic races in America. Thus we know that their
language was the Mochica or Yunga which is still
in use by some of the present-day Indians of the
neighborhood. And we know that, according to
Chimu tradition, the race came from somewhere in
the north.

According to this tradition, the Chimus’ ancestors
arrived by way of the sea in a great fleet of rafts ox
canoes. They were no primitive savage people but
(vere highly organized, possessed many arts
and industries, and maintained an aristocracy and a
court. Following the death of their first ruler there
were eleven successors, until the time when the king¬
dom was abolished and the people established a true
republic. This continued successfully for a very
long period, or until a powerful feudal lord or chief
in the Chicama Valley incited a revolt, and with his
followers, overthrew the government and proclaimed
himself the emperor or Chimu-Capac. Under his?
leadership the dominion was greatly extended, many'

232 Old Civilizations of the New World

tribes were conquered and made vassals of the realm
under Chimu governors, and the Chimus even ad¬
vanced into the nearer Andean valleys. Far to the
north and south the Chimus exacted tribute, and the
priests, kings and chiefs built up a ceremonial and
religious state of such wealth and magnificence as has
rarely been equaled in the world’s history.

No doubt there is much truth in the tradition of
the northern origin of the race. The Chimu skulls
are of a marked northern type, and are similar to
those of the Maya races. As no earlier primitive re¬
mains are known In the Chimu district we can place
credence on the tale that they arrived on the coast as
highly cultured, civilized people. Whence they came
is a mystery, but it is not at all impossible, or even
improbable, that they may have been the survivors
of the race that was driven from Panama by the erup¬
tion of Guacamayo. (See Chapter VI.) Much of
their traditional history, after their arrival in South
America, is borne out by their arts, especially their
pottery. The earlier specimens of ceramic ware show
scenes depicting kings and court life, often most elab¬
orate and magnificent. Later pottery is more con¬
ventional, and as scenes of court life and of rulers
gradually disappear, scenes indicative of a different
social organization appear, and there are decorations
evidently recording the recurrent droughts, the dis¬
astrous floods and the other events which were of far
greater interest and importance to the republican
people than kings and courts. The earlier ware was
largely red and white, then other and more gener¬
alized forms became abundant, until the typical local
style again took prominence and once more depicted

The Kingdom of the Graxhd Chimu 233

the royal personages and the pomp of a rich and
powerful court.

We also know much of the home and public life of
the Chimus, not only from a study of their remains
and ruins, but from the writings of the early Span¬
iards who, occasionally, as in this case, were sufficient¬
ly interested in other matters than loot and saving
souls, to record their observations. Thus we know
that the Chimus were expert argiculturalists, and, al¬
though dwelling in a naturally arid and desert land,
they cultivated and raised large crops of potatoes,
maize, cotton and many other vegetables and fruits.
In order to do this they were compelled to construct
vast irrigation systems. In the vicinity of Chan-
Chan the supply of water was obtained from the
Noche River, and large reservoirs were constructed
in order to conserve a supply of the priceless water
during long dry periods when the river was low. One
of the largest of these, known as La Manpuesteria is
still in existence, and the aqueducts through which the
water was led to the city and to the fields, as well as
traces of the irrigation ditches, may still be seen. As
Chan-Chan was a large and populous city covering
an area of eleven square miles and housing nearly, if
not fully, a quarter of a million inhabitants, a very
large area of land was necessary in order to supply
vegetable food for the people. Although much of
the area once used by the Chimus for their fields and
gardens has been occupied in building the city of
Trujillo and its suburbs, and for the estates and
haciendas of the Peruvians, a great deal has become
dry and sterile, and at the lowest estimates we can
feel certain that the inhabitants of Chan-Chan had

234 Old Civilizations of the New World

under cultivation fully ten times as much land as is
under cultivation in the district at the present time
We know also that the houses of the common peo¬
ple were built of reeds, rough cobblestones or sun-
dried adobe bricks. The roofs were sharply pitched
the walls leaned inward toward the tops and were
wmdowless, and reed or woven mats served as doors
In cultivating the soil they used copper axes and hoes*
wooden implements and utensils made from bone and
shell. Their weapons were wooden clubs, copper
knives, daggers, spears and swords, as well as battle-
axes and maces, slings, and bows and arrows. They
wove their wonderful textiles of cotton, llama hair
and fibers upon crude wooden looms. They had
needles of bone and of cactus spines. The fishermen
used nets and sinkers, and went to sea in rafts or ca¬
noes of reeds known as balsas. For ornaments they
used feathers, beads of various materials, pearls,
seeds, bone, yarn and metal objects, and occasionally
agate, turquoise, crystal, lapis lazuli and other semi-
precious stones.

The dwellers in the city lived on a much more lux¬
urious plane. Here there were wide straight streets
an ed by high walls, stately houses, immense palaces,
magnificent temples and public buildings. Within
the confines of the walls surrounding the homes of the
rich and the aristocracy, were courtyards, patios,
gardens and baths. In many places there were large
reservoirs or tanks which still exist. One of these
measures six hundred yards in length by fifty yards
m width, while another is five hundred feet long,
one hundred and ninety-five feet wide and sixty feet
deep. Here in the city, the buildings were of caseajo

235

The Kingdom of the Grand Chimu

or coarse gravel mixed with a clay or cement-like
mud to form a strong enduring form of adobe which
has withstood the elements for centuries.. The build¬
ings were of massive construction, often forty feet
from base to eaves, and with walls nine or ten feet
thick at the bases tapering to four or five feet in
thickness near the tops. The roofs were sharply
pitched and were formed of hewn, hardwood timbers
and reeds with a ridge of sun-dried adobe tiles. Like
the walls, the doors were narrowest at the tops and
were closed by reed mats and skins. In the gables,
and in the centers of the walls, were circular window¬
like openings apparently for the purpose of provid¬
ing limited ventilation and permitting smoke to find
its way out. Here and there an important building
or temple was raised on a mound above its fellows,
and the walls of all the better class of buildings, as
well as the great city wall, were elaborately decorated
by pressed or molded bas-relief frescoes and friezes.
These were in geometrical designs, in the forms of
animals, conventionalized human figures, leaves, flow¬
ers, stars, circles and intricately interwoven lines.
The backgrounds of these were painted in brilliant
colors, bringing the designs out in bold contrasting
relief and producing a most ornate and magnificent
appearance. The finest of the buildings were of
course the palaces, rectangular in form and some of
them covering an area of over six hundred thousand
square feet. One, which is unique, contained forty-
five small rooms arranged in groups of five, each
room being fourteen feet long, eight feet wide and
nine feet high. Another encloses numerous galleries
and small rooms lined with honeycomb-like niches in

236 Old Citilizatioks op the New Would

which the early Spaniards found richly dressed and
gold-laden mummies which they promptly looted of
their valuables. The “great room” of this palace was
forty-five feet square; and adjoining it was an almost
equally large living-room whose walls were complete¬
ly covered with designs in relief and having manv
overlaid with gold-leaf. S y

A few years ago the visitor to Chan-Chan could
trace the outlines of these various buildings, could
wander about the palaces and courtyards, could re¬
construct, m his mind’s eye, the vast rich city as it
was in the days of the Grand Chimu, and could mar¬
vel at the wonderfully complicated and beautiful
sculptures covering the numberless walls and fa 9 ades.
But the rains of 1925 wrought sad havoc with Chan-
Chan. . Although the district is normally rainless, yet,
at various periods within historic times, heavy rains
have fallen along the ordinarily arid coast of Peru.
Such rams also fell during the days of the Chimus,
for the floods are recorded on the pottery.

These torrential downpours have done much to de¬
stroy the ruins. In 1701, 1720 and 1891 ancient
Chan-Chan lost each time a portion of its painted
walls, its adobe sculptures and its entirety. And be¬
tween times earthquakes and vandals have done their
part. On February 14, 1619, an earthquake de¬
stroyed every house in Trujillo within one minute.
In 1687 another did almost as much damage. On
January 6, 1725, the district was again largely de¬
stroyed, and m 1739 there was another disastrous
quake. Through all of these the massive walls of
Chan-Chan remained, although portions of the build¬
ings were shaken down. But the heavy downpour

The Kingdom of the Grand Chimu 237

of 1925 was the last straw. The walls which had en¬
dured for so many centuries crumbled and were
transformed to mud, the sculptures were washed
away, and to-day scarcely a trace of the ornate deco¬
rations remain, while the city is scarcely more than a
labyrinth of broken-down walls and the debris of
buildings.

The doom of Chan-Chan was sealed long before
Pizarro set forth on his conquest of Peru, and, long
before then, the Chimus had ceased to exist as a dis¬
tinct civilization. With the coming of the Incas, filled
with the ambition to extend their vast empire, the
kingdom of the Grand Chimu was included in the list
of prospective conquests. During a long period of
peaceful easy life the Chimus had grown careless,
lazy and lax in their defenses. Down upon them ad¬
vanced the well-trained armies of the Inca. Many
desperate battles ensued. Here and there portions
of the Chimu Kingdom surrendered to the Inca, but
the key to the heart of the kingdom was Paramonga
where the Chimus held an almost impregnable for¬
tress. It was built with three parallel lines of thick
adobe walls, the outermost seven hundred feet long,
the innermost six hundred feet in length, and above
these extended salients jutting outward for ninety
feet. Over and over again the Inca hurled his
armies at the stronghold, only to be driven back. But
strategy succeeded where force failed. Betiring to
a spot in the foot-hills, the Inca constructed a dam
across the river that supplied the Chimus with their
water. Their fields withered and dried, their tanks
and reservoirs were exhausted, but still they refused
to surrender. Then from the Inca came a dire threat.

238 Old Civilizations op the New World

If the Grand Chimu did not surrender, he warned
them, he would deprive them of the light of the sun
as he had deprived them of their water. To the Chi-
mus there was nothing impossible in this. A man
powerful enough to do the one might do the other,
and they bowed to the inevitable. Many were trans¬
ported to distant Incan provinces. Others were
placed under Incan governors, and nearly two hun¬
dred years before the coming of the Spaniards the
kingdom of the Grand Chimu had ceased to exist and
Chan-Chan was a deserted, half-destroyed city.

CHAPTER XII

MYSTERIOUS FORGOTTEN RACES

Xorth of the kingdom of the Grand Chimu, in
Ecuador and Colombia, are remains of two or more
mysterious forgotten races whose works and attain¬
ments show a culture of the highest order. So little
is known of these ancient races that it is difficult, if
not impossible, to decide whether they possessed ex¬
tremely advanced cultures or should be considered as
having developed civilizations.

The Chibehas, at least, were as civilized in many
respects as the Aztecs, the Chimus and many other
races. Just who the Chibehas were, their racial af¬
finities, their origin or their history are all hidden in
the dim and distant past, and we have very little in¬
formation regarding their customs, their lives, their
attainments or their government, although they were
still in existence at the time of the Spanish conquest
of what is now Colombia. Their territory was the
high Andean region of Colombia, and they were
ruled, at the time of the conquest, by two kings or
rather regents. One of these was the Zippa whose
capital was in the vicinity of the present city of Bo¬
gota; the other was the Zoque whose capital was at
Tunja. As was the rule with the Aztecs, the eldest
brother of the regent, or if there was no brother the
eldest nephew, succeeded to the throne, instead of the
son of the ruler himself. This rule would indicate

240 Old Civilizations of the New World

that descent was by the matrilineal line, as is the case
with many Indian tribes of the past and present. As
among the Incas, monogamy was enforced.

The social organization was very complete, and
there was a strictly observed code of laws with un¬
usual and often severe penalties provided for nearly
every offense or crime. An unfaithful wife was com¬
pelled to eat red peppers or be killed. If she chose
the former punishment, and survived the ordeal, she
was forgiven and her husband was forced to apolo¬
gize to her. Men who showed fear or were adjudged
cowards were forced to dress and act like women, and
to do women’s work. Blasphemy and many other
offenses were punishable by death, and crimes or mis¬
deeds which injured another resulted in the offender
being compelled to serve as the slave of the injured
party.

The Chibchas’ houses were built of adobe with con¬
ical roofs of reed mats, and were placed in groups
within high-walled enclosures guarded by watch-
towers occupied by armed men. Honey formed a
large part of their food, and they carried on an exten¬
sive trade in cereals which they exchanged for salt
with the coastal tribes.

Their religion was a modified sun-worship. Ac¬
cording to their mythology the moon was the wife of
Bochiea, the sun-god. As she was a most disagree¬
able sort of being, and was forever trying to destroy
men, she was permitted to appear only during the
night. Bochica, the sun-god, was a semihuman di-
vinity, and the myths regarding him bear a most
striking and remarkable similarity to the Aztec leg¬
ends of Quetzalcoatl and the Mayan myths of Ku-

Mysterious Forgotten Races 241

fculcan. Human sacrifices were practised, the
victims being trained and prepared for their fate for
several years in advance. The Chibchas also held
certain mountains and bodies of water sacred, and
greatly venerated Lake Quatavita into whose depths
they annually cast innumerable objects of gold, sil¬
ver, platinum, etc. Several attempts have been made
to drain the lake and recover the treasures it is sup¬
posed to contain, and while considerable numbers of
images of gold and other metals have been obtained
the efforts have mainly been unsuccessful. Accord¬
ing to old Spanish accounts, the Chibcha dead were
embalmed with resin and other preservatives, and, to¬
gether with all the possessions of the deceased, were
buried in wooden coffins covered with sheets of gold.
They were so carefully hidden in secret tombs or
caves that none has ever been discovered.

In their arts the Chibchas had reached a very high
development. They wove excellent cloth and textiles
of cotton and fibers; they made magnificent pottery;
they constructed excellent roads and large temples.
They were past masters at working gold, silver and
even platinum, and they possessed a knowledge of
some unknown and lost process of plating objects
with precious metals which was only equaled by the
Chimus. (See Chapter XI.) Although they never
erected great stone buildings nor built large stone
cities, as did the Aztecs, Mayas and Peruvians, and
never approached those races in the extent and beauty
of their stone sculptures, they were expert stone-
workers and erected many well-carved stone columns
or monuments.

Possibly they were of the same race as, or related

242 Old Civilizations of the New Woeld

to, the Manabis who occupied the Pacific coast district
of northern Ecuador, but from what evidences we
have it would appear that the Manabis were a distinct
race with a culture differing materially from that of
any other ancient people of South or Central Ameri¬
ca. So little is really known of this race and its accom¬
plishments that it is impossible to say whether they
actually attained to a civilized state. The only re¬
mains they left were their remarkable stone sculp¬
tures, their pottery and their gold objects. No traces
of their houses, buildings, temples or other structures
have been discovered. It is assumed that they dwelt
in flimsy cane and thatched houses, and that these
have long since vanished. Their pottery is unusual
and distinctive, the typical form being a baseless, el¬
liptical-bodied jar with narrow mouth. Scattered
over the area occupied by the race are numerous slabs
and monoliths of stone elaborately carved and sculp¬
tured in low bas-relief, as well as many very remark¬
able stone seats or thrones. These vary in size from
small affairs to immense chairs weighing half a ton
or more. But all are alike in shape, being similar in
form to the ancient Roman chairs, and with the bases
elaborately sculptured. Even though these are made
from a fairly soft volcanic rock, yet to hew and carve
the material into the form desired must have entailed
incredible labor and skill and a vast amount of time.
If only a few specimens of these stone thrones had
been found it would not be so amazing, but their
number is astounding. Why any race should have
made so many chairs, what purpose they served, why
they were left scattered about hit-and-miss, are ■among
the greatest mysteries of ancient American /aces.

243

Mysterious Forgotten Races

However, it was in their metal work that the
Manabis accomplished the most astounding' results.
Not only did they manufacture beautiful objects of
gold of ordinary size, but they produced ornaments
of gold of microscopic dimensions. In the Museum
of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, in New
York are many tiny particles of gold which appear
to be natural grains or small nuggets. But when
viewed through a magnifying-glass they are revealed
as most perfectly and beautifully wrought beads.
Many are elaborately engraved or chased, others are
built up of several almost invisible pieces welded or
soldered together, and all are pierced. It seems im¬
possible that such minute objects, many smaller than
the head of a common pin, could have been produced
by human beings without the aid of a lens. The only
solution seems to be that the Manabis actually made
use of crude lenses fashioned from crystal, or else
they possessed microscopic eyes and more adept and
delicate fingers than any other race of men.

Despite the high attainments in art, engineering,
astronomy and government which were reached by
the Aztecs, the Incas, the Mayas and others, in a way
these unknown, forgotten races of South America
were more remarkable, and were unquestionably far
more ancient. From the Chibcha district in
Colombia to northern Chile, numerous races rose to
a civilized state, vanished and were forgotten centur¬
ies before the first Montezuma or the first Inca saw
the light of day. Indeed this area, much of which is
to-day arid desert or even more sterile mountains,
and which is so austere, so uninviting and so bare of
the very essentials of existence, appears to have been

244 Old Civilizations of the New World

the center of ancient civilizations for an immense
period of time; the spot wherein the ancient Ameri¬
cans developed the most numerous and most diverse
civilizations, and wherein the mysterious races of the
dim past reached the highest attainments in social
organization, in engineering and in many other lines.

Some of these races existed at the time of the es¬
tablishment of the Incan Empire, and were con¬
quered and made an integral part of the Incan
confederation. But more had completely vanished
before the coming of the first Inca, and, if we are to
believe history and traditions, the Incan races had no
definite knowledge of these pre-Incan peoples. No
one dares even guess how long ago the first of these
races rose from savagery and became highly cultured
people. No one can say, with any degree of certain¬
ty, which of the civilizations is the most ancient. No
one is absolutely sure whether’ all were offshoots of
one race, whether the many civilizations were links in
one chain of development, or if all were distinct. And
no one can answer the riddle as to who they were,
whence they came or why they vanished. All are
shrouded in the deepest mystery. Even the Incas,
the most recent of all, whose civilization was flourish¬
ing at the time of the Spanish conquest, are sur¬
rounded with mystery. We really know nothing of
their history or their ancestry. We have only vague
legends, traditions and allegories regarding these
matters, and even these are lacking when it comes to
the more ancient races and civilizations which pre¬
ceded the Incas.

Everywhere, throughout Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia
and even over the borders in Brazil and Chile, are

Mysterious Forgotten Races 245

scattered the ruins and remains of civilized people
of whom nothing is definitely known. Over an area
of more than one million square miles there is scarcely
a square mile that does not contain evidences of once
having been inhabited by races who reached a high
state of culture, and many of whom performed al¬
most incredible feats of engineering. Everywhere,
among the Andean ranges and upon the deserts, are
the ruins of temples, palaces, great cities, immense
walls, massive fortresses, as well as hundreds of
thousands of graves and tombs containing millions of
mummies.

Although many archeologists have studied and
excavated among these remains; although hundreds
of thousands of specimens have been obtained, and
although innumerable pamphlets, reports, and even
ponderous volumes have been written regarding
them, yet the surface has scarcely been scratched.
There are ruins and remains beyond calculation
which have never been examined; there are as many
more which have never been seen by white men and
by few of the native Indians. No doubt, somewhere
in these ruins of long-vanished civilizations, in some
crumbling palace or temple, or hidden in some tomb,
is material that, when found, will solve the mysteries
surrounding these forgotten people.

It is impossible even to calculate the number of
the inhabitants who once occupied the area. For a
stretch of more than one thousand miles north and
south there is an almost endless chain of cemeteries
and burial-mounds extending inland to beyond thfc-
Andes. In many of these the number of dead
interred is almost beyond conception. The earth is

246 Old Civilization's of the New World

literally filled with the dead, and there must be hun¬
dreds of millions of mummies within the area. These
of course represent the accumulation of dead bodies
through many centuries,—thousands of years in fact.
In this dry land where it seldom rains, and in the
nitrate-impregnated soil, bodies last indefinitely, and
it is often impossible to determine whether a mummi¬
fied body was interred five hundred or five thousand
years ago. I say mummies ; but in reality these bod¬
ies are not true mummies preserved artificially, but
are merely the desiccated remains, the dried, shriveled
cadavers preserved intact by the dryness and the
chemicals in the soil.

Often they are in remarkably good condition, even
the facial expressions being retained, but as a rule
they are merely skeletons covered with shrunken,
parchment-like skins, and with the hair remaining
upon the heads. But if we cannot state definitely
how long ago they were interred or who they were,
we can be certain that they are the dead of many
races or distinct cultures, that there were long lapses
between the various eras of civilization, and we can
determine with reasonable accuracy which culture
certain mummies represent, and from them can learn
much of the lives, customs, habits, religions, arts and
crafts of their lifetimes.

These facts are established by what is termed
stratification. In other words, by careful excavation
of ruins, remains, burial-mounds and graves we find
*bat the remains, human and otherwise, are dis¬
tributed in more or less regular layers or strata. At
times there will be several—as many as four or five—
of these strata, while at other times there will be only

Mysterious Fqrgotteh Races 247

one recognizable deposit. Often there is no distinct
line of demarcation between two or more layers,
while again there may be considerable depths of
barren sand or earth between the strata of remains.
In the former case we can safely assume that one
culture superseded another or was a development of
its predecessor, and hence the cultures represented
were probably of the same race or people; whereas
in the latter case we can assume with equal certainty
that one culture or civilization disappeared and an¬
other took its place in the same locality after a gap
of many years or even centuries, and that there is
probably no racial connection between the two. Such
a condition only adds to the mystery of the whole
matter, however. Why, we may well ask, did one
highly cultured or civilized race die out or disappear,
and why, centuries later, should another race develop
a culture or civilization of a different character in
practically the same spot? No one can offer an an¬
swer. If each succeeding culture was more advanced
than those preceding it we might think that the
people profited by their forerunners’ examples and
improved upon them. But not infrequently the later
cultures were inferior to those of earlier date and
showed no proofs of having been influenced by them.

Prominent among these prehistoric mysterious
cultures is that known as the Nasca from the fact
that it centered about the Nasca district in and
around the present cities of Pisco and lea in central
Peru. Here, over a vast area of desert country be¬
tween the Pacific and the Andes, dwelt a race of
people who developed a ceramic art in many ways
unexcelled by any other prehistoric American race.

248 Old Civilizations op the New Would

Their pottery, of which hundreds of thousands of
specimens fill the great museums of the world, is
easily recognized, and unlike that from any other
portion of the world. Largely it is polychrome,
usually colored in soft reds, browns, buff, white and
black; beautifully modeled and finished, and remark¬
able for the variety of its intricate and complicated
designs. It is in the thin delicate nature of the
ceramic ware, the perfect firing and the truly artistic
and beautiful polychrome designs that the Nascan
pottery excels all other types. Although most of the
Nasca ware is in the more conventional forms, such
as plates, saucers, bowls, jars, cups and pots, there
are a great many imitative pieces, resembling, in their
fidelity to natural forms, the Chimu and Tiahuanaco
pottery. But the Nasca ware is always recognizable
by its coloration and is quite distinct from all others.

The Nascans also employed pottery for making
many implements, utensils, etc., rarely if ever,
formed of earthenware elsewhere. Among these are
flutes, trumpets, horns, Pan’s-pipes, bells, whistles
and other musical instruments. Also, like many
other races, they possessed the knowledge of “whis¬
tling jars,” utensils so formed with double spouts that
when liquid was poured from them they emitted a
low, musical, whistling sound. In fact, there is scarce¬
ly any form of utensil which cannot be found among
the Nasca pottery. In some respects, however, all
the Nasca ceramic ware is much alike. With few
exceptions it is made of a fine quality of clay rubbed
to a satiny surface, but unglazed, and with few ex¬
ceptions it is, when decorated at all, embellished wdth
most cleverly executed paintings, each of which tells

fORED

ousands of
e world, is
. any other
polychrome,

, white and
nd remark-
pomplicated
;ure of the
ruly artistic
the 1ST ascan
most of the
forms, such
pots, there
ing, in their
Tiahuanaco
'ecognizable
n all others,
for making
ly if ever,
ag these are
11s, whistles
like many
re of “whis-
5 spouts that
y emitted a
;re is scarce-
pund among
however, all
With few
clay rubbed
vitb few ex-
ellished with
f which tells

Mysterious Forgotten Races 249

a story or is symbolic of some event. Often these
designs are so involved and intricate that at first
glance they appear meaningless, but once one be¬
comes familiar with the style, the technique and the
handling of the art, the motifs may readily be inter¬
preted. As these, like the forms of the vessels them¬
selves, are frequently duplicated, it may be that they
conveyed thoughts, messages, or recorded events.

Aside from their unique and astonishing pottery,
the Nascans were expert weavers, feather-workers,
metal workers and wood-carvers. Their textiles,
often finer than anything made by machinery, are
found well preserved in the graves with the mummies.
Much of the textile work is plain weaving, but the
best, and a very large proportion of it, is tapestry in
which the most elaborate and intricate designs in
many colors are brought out by a sort of embroidery
upon a woven base. So fine is much of this that it
seems impossible to believe that it could have been
done by human figures. Not infrequently the
stitches are so small that they are almost invisible to
the naked eye, and the designs seem at first sight to
be painted upon the cloth. In their feather-work the
Nascans sewed thousands of small, bright-colored
feathers on to a woven background, and in this way
made belts, headbands and even large ponchos and
entire garments of the most artistically blended tints,
and of surpassing beauty. Silver and gold were used
extensively, and were beautifully wrought into in¬
numerable forms for utensils, weapons and orna¬
ments. Copper was seldom if ever used. Their
woodwork, especially ceremonial staffs and spades,,
was most elaborately and intricately carved.

250 Old Civilizations of the New World

Nowhere in Peru or elsewhere are there such mum¬
mies as are found in the Nascan tombs. Not only
are the bodies most perfectly preserved, but their
wrappings and coverings are rich, elaborate and
gorgeous. Ordinarily the Peruvian mummy is
doubled up with the knees under the chin, is covered
with a poncho or blanket, and, together with a few
personal belongings and ornaments, is wrapped in
layers of coarse sacking, quilted cotton and, outside
of all, a coarsely netted container of rope. At times
a mask of painted wood, of silver, copper, earthen¬
ware or even gold, may cover the face, and the body
of a chief or priest may be buried with the insignia or
feather head-dress used in life. But the Nascan
mummies are of quite a different sort. Not only are
they interred with the finest pottery, the richest gar¬
ments and most prized weapons and ornaments, but
in addition they are wrapped, bundled, decorated and
disguised until they bear no outward resemblance to
human bodies. The entire body is wrapped and
roped into a bulky bundle, the wrappings covering
head and all. On top of this is placed an artificial
head covered with hair sewed in place, and with a
mask of silver, gold or wood, painted, carved or
chased, to represent the face of the deceased. Upon
the head is placed a gorgeous feather crown, often
with a fillet of silver or gold. The bundle is robed
in the finest textiles and feather-work, and is draped
with necklaces and ornaments of precious metal and
semiprecious stones, until the whole looks like a bad¬
ly proportioned, stumpy tailor’s dummy fairly covered
with feathers, gold and silver, tapestry and gewgaws.

251

Mystebious Fobgottent Races

With all their other attainments the Nascans seem
to hare fought shy of stonework. They were an agri¬
cultural and fishing race, as we know from the designs
on their pottery and other remains; they dwelt in a
warm equable climate, and they apparently had no
need of stone dwellings. Like the inhabitants of the
northern Peruvian coast districts, their temples, forts,
buildings and walls were of adobe, and they erected
no large stone monoliths or idols. Though in a desert
district they placed large areas of land under culti¬
vation, bringing the water for many miles by canals
and ditches to irrigate their fields. They raised
nearly every variety of vegetable, grain and fruit
known to South America. Although, as far as we
know, they were by no means as highly cultured or
civilized as the Aztecs, the Mayas, the pre-Incas or
the Incas, the Nascans were far above the level
of savages or barbarians. They possessed all or near¬
ly all the arts, and had a good fundamental knowl¬
edge of engineering. They had many industries of
civilization, a complex religion, and possibly a sym¬
bolic recorded language. They were well organized
socially and politically, and, did we know more of
their home life and customs, we might find that they
were a truly civilized race.

Until recently it was thought that they were the
only highly cultured race that had existed in the dis-
strict, and innumerable theories had been suggested
to account for their presence and culture. They had
been linked theoretically with the still more ancient
Tiahuanacans, with the pre-Incas and with many
other cultures, but none of these theories seemed to

252 Old Civilizations of the New Would

fit in entirely with facts.* Recently, Doctor Tello
made a most remarkable discovery in the Nasca dis¬
trict. A few miles from Pisco, on an outjutting
cape, m a barren desert waste among equally for¬
bidding hills, he discovered the remains of two great
cities. Here, exposed by the drifting sand, he found
massive buildings, houses, temples, walls and tombs
of beautifully cut pink porphyry. Though very lit-
tle of the remains has been uncovered or excavated
enough has been done to prove that these prehistoric
cities were immense centers, the residences of thou¬
sands of people, and though so close to the Nascan
district actually within it, in fact—they are obvious-
y the work of a distinct race and represent a different
civilization. Their pottery, sculptures, textiles, wood¬
work, etc., are totally unlike those of the Nascans or
any other prehistoric Peruvian race.

. Excavations have proved that there were three dis¬
tinct civilizations at these “pink” cities, the latest
Incan, the next older pre-Incan and the oldest the
unknown, immeasurably ancient civilization of the
district. Among the numerous objects obtained
rom these oldest remains are vessels depicting lla.™™
with five toes on the front feet, instead of two as in
he llamas of the present time. Moreover, skeletons
oi five-toed llamas were found. This would seem to
prove t hat these prehistoric people lived in the dim

the ancient ^ lat dur ™. !? interval between

anarchy and internal warfare anrl a ? 6 ? nca ° P er i 0 ^ there was a time of
rived from southern Mexico Wr fVnf^ un . n " this tune, the Mochicas ar~
tions of Nasea Chimn p fl/ ,b Q tral America and established the eiviliza-
that of the ^ superimposing their culture upon

this theory, yetthe strikW^ ll S °*/ ar * 6 reaI proof s ^r>ort of

sun-god, together with the" Chimn ?il°^^%^ aSCa \ SUn “ g0< ^ and the Mexican
there may bla bask for the asCpbT ° f 3 “ dicate **

Mysterious ForgOttei* Races 253

past when llamas still possessed five toes—a time so
remote that we cannot even hazard a guess at it. But
many scientists are of the opinion that the five-toed
llamas of the pink city people were merely freaks or
were a special variety bred by these people and per¬
haps regarded as sacred because of their five toes.

Why these people should have erected stone cities,
whereas all the other coastal races used adobe, is also
a mystery. Certainly they had no more real need of
stone buildings and dwellings than had the Chimus,
the Nascans and the others, and surely it was not
because stone was the most convenient material at
hand. On the contrary, the stone was quarried and
cut man y miles from the site of the cities, and was
transported with tremendous difficulty, and by hercu¬
lean labor, across wide desert wastes. Thousands of
people must have toiled for years to have accom¬
plished this, and the quality of the buildings and the
workmanship prove that they possessed an advanced
knowledge of engineering, of architecture and of
mathematics. That they were a numerous race is
proved by the size of the cities, one of which is
estimated to have housed over forty thousand inhabi¬
tants, by the number of burials and mummies, and by
the amount of labor represented.

Here we face other mysteries. Why should such
a numerous and highly cultured race have been con¬
fined to a restricted area on a comparatively small
and isolated cape? Why should they have built
two cities here, and never have spread to other dis¬
tricts? And whence did they eome and where did
they go? Did they come from oversea, bringing
their arts and cultures with them, and settle down and

254 Old Civilizations of the New World

Md their cities upon the spot where they landed?
Were they wanderers from the interior driven into
the deserts by savage tribes? Were they the decen
dants of other cultured people who left no known
traces forming a connecting link between them and
the inhabitants of the pink cities? Were they driven
out by pestilence, enemies or by some great cataclysm
of nature ? There are innumerable solutions that may
be offered m reply to these questions. For all we
know, the present desert may, in their time, have been
fertile, well-watered land, and with the climatic
changes people may have been compelled to abandon
the cities they had worked so hard to build. They
may have been conquered by some more powerful
and more warlike race, perhaps even by the earliest
Incas, and forced to move to some other portion of
the land. They may have been decimated by plamies
or epidemics, until not enough remained to keep up
the cities, and the survivors, finding life impossible
here, may have migrated elsewhere and lost then-
identity among other races. There are just as many
theoretical solutions for the puzzle of their origin.
They may have come from some long-submerged,
mid-Pacific archipelago. They may have come from
the Oceanic islands or even from Asia, or they may
have been migrants from the north, south, or east.

It has been claimed by some that all the pre-Incan
races were of Oriental origin, that they were
Chinese or even Japanese, and several volumes
have been written to prove this theory. Vocabularies
have been compiled showing the striking similarity of
numerous words in the Quichua and Aimara dialects
and in the Chinese and Japanese languages. And

Mysterious Forgotten Races 2 55

numerous examples have been cited of alleged Chin¬
ese and Japanese characters and inscriptions upon
pre-Incan pottery, sculptures and metal work.

At first glance the proof appears to be conclusive.
But a close study of the arguments and alleged
proofs rather shatters one’s faith in the theory.
There are many times more words in the Quiehua
and Aimara dialects which bear not the slightest simi¬
larity to the Chinese and Japanese than the similar
words compiled so carefully. Moreover, there are as
many or even more that closely resemble—in fact are
often identical with—words of the same meaning in
the Oceanian dialects. And the superficial similarity
of a few words among thousands is far from conclu¬
sive evidence of racial relationship. The various in¬
scriptions and characters which are claimed to be
Chinese or Japanese are most questionable. Some of
these are obviously purely decorative motifs, and be¬
ing composed of lines and dots, bear a superficial re¬
semblance to Chinese characters. Others are
apparently pictographs, and it is only natural that
crudely and greatly conventionalized symbols for cer¬
tain objects as used by one race should more or less
resemble the symbols used as characters in writing by
another race, even though there is no connection be¬
tween them. In many cases, also, the sponsors of this
theory have used vivid imaginations and have “re¬
stored” the so-called inscriptions to fulfil their own
ideas as to what they should be. Finally, the origi¬
nators of this theory admit that no two authorities
agree as to the interpretation of the alleged Oriental
characters, and not one of the translations offered has
any real sense or meaning of importance.

256 Old Civilisations op the New World

Of course, on the other hand, it is not impossible
nor even improbable that voyagers from China or
Japan may not have visited the west coast of South
America m ages past. They may have come in suffi¬
cient numbers to have established settlements and
they may have left some influence upon the paple
Then words for certain objects, especially 3e s '
hitherto unknown to the natives, might have blZ
adopted by the indigenous races, and some of their
ra her decorative characters might have been used by
the natives, especially if they regarded them with
superstitious reverence or looked upon them as magi¬
cal which would no doubt have been the case. But
i e population of the district was entirely of Mon¬
golian origin, if the country was settled by the Chin-

wL°tb P T 6 ' • a " d tte CUltUreS “ d civilizations

Tr t ?’ r “ * W0Uld Seem aat tt cre should be
distinctively Japanese or Chinese influence recogniz-

ab e m the arts, the industries, the architecture^,

that Chhi atto ,T nlS ° f tte PTe ' Inoan races, “d
that Chinese and Japanese characters and inscriptions

should predominate and should occur everywhere

S ^ f “ n0t * he ° aSe - Amon « all the count-

I smlW 10USand a 0f exampIes of pottery, metal objects,
sculptures and textiles obtained from pre-Incan and

re “ ams there are scarcely a dozen specimens
.. bCar fl f”es which, by any stretch of the imagi-

ori^W’ te consider<id of Japanese or Chinese

Others have attempted to connect the pre-Incan
races with the Egyptians, and with the famous "Lost

Wd /f 1 ? ' “ d “ ieaSt °” e auth °rity has main-

- med that Peru was the Ophir of the Bible, that

Mysterious Forgotten Races 257

King Solomon’s mines were in the Andean region,
and that the Indians are descendants of the people
sent oversea by the famous Biblical king. Many
have tried to settle the mystery of these races by
claiming they were all of common origin and ances¬
try; that during thousands of years of wandering
about, of living in various environments and under
varying conditions of climate, they developed widely
varying habits, cultures, arts and civilizations. But
even if we accept this, which after all is the most
plausible theory of the lot, it does not provide any
answer to the greatest mystery of all: namely, where
the original race came from and who they were.

Moreover, as I have mentioned before, the most
ancient races that inhabited the district appear to
have been the most highly civilized. There are no
traces of a gradual evolution of their culture, no
stepping-stones, as it were, from savagery or bar¬
barism which can be credited to these races. Their
only known remains prove them most highly ad¬
vanced and civilized people, each distinct from all
others, and presenting the greatest archeological
puzzle of the entire world.

CHAPTER XIII

THE MYSTERY OF TIAHUANACQ

Far up on the Andean heights, nearly fifteen thou¬
sand feet above the sea, and a few miles from the
shores of Lake Titicaca, are the remains of the
oldest and most mysterious city in the New World.
Here, on the very roof of the world, in a barren*
bleak and dreary land, are the ruins of Tiahuanaco’
once the mighty capital of a highly civilized people
whose origin, history and fall are unsolved mysteries,
whose feats of engineering seem almost superhuman!
whose sculptures have no counterpart in the entire
world, and who had vanished from the face of the
earth centuries before the fall of Rome. The in¬
fluence of their art and their religion extended
throughout Peru, Bolivia and the Andean regions,
and yet, as far as is known, they were a race apart,
and in no other spot in the world are there sculptures,
carvings and structures even remotely resembling
those at Tiahuanaco. It is as if the entire civilization,
the entire prehistoric race, had been confined to the
one restricted area about Lake Titicaca, in fact, as
though the people and their civilization had descended
upon this spot from another world, and, as mys¬
teriously, had gone back whence they came.

Although for hundreds, thousands of years, Tia¬
huanaco has been at the mercy of the elements and
earthquakes; although the Incan people, the wild

258

259

The Mysteby of Tiahxjanaco

Collas, the Spaniards, the Bolivians, the tourists, the
treasure-seekers, the archeologists and the railway-
builders have done everything within their power to
destroy, desecrate and obliterate the work of the
Tiahuanacans, and although the most remarkable and
most priceless remains have been carried off, broken
up or removed, still much exists of the prehistoric
city, its immense temples, its stupendous buildings
and its amazing monoliths. Fortunately, those por¬
tions of Tiahuanaco which have defied time and ma n
through the long centuries are the portions which
speak most eloquently of the high civilization and
the incredible feats of the vanished race who dwelt
and worshiped there.

The ruins are scattered over an area of several
square miles close to the modern Bolivian In di an vil¬
lage of Tiahuanaco. The Guayqui-La Paz Railway
passes directly through their midst. In fact, the
greatest destruction of these irreplaceable and price¬
less remains of a prehistoric civilization was wrought
by the builders of the railway. Innumerable idols,
monuments, sculptured monoliths and countless tons
of stone from the ruins were broken up and used for
ballasting the road-bed. Ruthlessly, cuttings were
made through burial-grounds, and human remains,
magnificent pottery and hundreds of archeological
treasures were broken, destroyed and thrown away.
But long before the railway was thought of, Tia¬
huanaco had suffered at the hands of innumerable
vandals. The ancient Catholic Church, built by the
old Spaniards, is largely composed of portions of the
magnificent buildings and monuments. In front of
the church stand two huge stone images or idols.

260 Old Civilizations of the New World

broken in half in order to reduce them to movable
proportions. Fully one-half of the squalid adobe
huts of the village have door frames, steps or other
portions formed from sculptured stones filched from
the ruins. Wherever streets are paved the pavements
are made from the cut stones of Tiahuanaco, and,
outside the village, the farmers have utilized every bit
of stonework they could transport to build the walls
about their fields. Even those portions of the ruins
which have been left have suffered. The finest idols
and monuments have served as targets for the rifles
of Bolivian soldiery; magnificent sculptures have
been wantonly defaced, and the condition of these
most ancient ruins in the New World is a disgrace to
the Bolivian Government.

Although the ruins are now over thirteen miles
from Lake Titicaca there are reasons to think that
in the days when the city was occupied it stood on
the shores of the lake itself or on an arm, or bay, for
traces of what was apparently a dock or mole are to
be seen just north of the principal ruins. If so thf
lake has receded and we must discard the theory that
the city was destroyed and deserted owing to the lake
rising and flooding the district.

It has also been claimed that the city was the prod¬
uct of two distinct races or civilizations, the more re¬
cent people having added to and reconstructed the
original ruins left by a much more ancient race. But
personally I can see no reason for this supposition,
although there are evidences of the Incan people hav¬
ing used the site to some extent, perhaps merely as
a shrine or for holding certain religious ceremonies.
That they should have done so is quite probable, for

The Mystery of Tiahuanaco

261

Tiahuanaco was a most holy city and was so regarded
in Incan folk-lore and legends. Moreover, according
to Garcilasso de la Vega, who doubtless had it from
his Incan mother, Tiahuanaco was occupied for con¬
siderable periods by the Incas. Garcilasso even goes
further and claims that the name, Tiahuanaco, was
not the original name of the city, but was bestowed
upon it by the Incas. According to him, a fleet-
footed courier brought a message from Cuzco to the
Inca at Tiahuanaco, and the latter, addressing the
weary messenger as “Guanaco” in complimentary
comparison with the famed speed of the guanaco,
requested him to be seated, using the words “Tiay,
Guanaco ." (Be seated, Guanaco.)

This explanation of the origin of the name is far¬
fetched and unreasonable. In the first place, the
guanaco is not found in Bolivia, but is a native of
southern Chile, and the Inca would have been far
more likely to have compared his messenger to the
vicuna, with which he was familiar, than to the
guanaco. Moreover, the word guanaco is of Ma-
puche and not Quichua derivation, while finally,
guanaco has the accent on the penultimate syllable,
whereas huanaco has the first syllable accented. As
a matter of fact, the origin of the name, tiahuanaco
or tiahuanacu is quite obvious and very simple.

In the Hualla (ancient Quichua) language,
huanacu means dead, and tihuanacu would signify a
place of the dead or a dead city. The name was un¬
doubtedly bestowed by the Incans, just as the ruins
of Chawin were so called owing to the fact that they
were the work of past or dead persons, cham mean¬
ing literally “a body that has lost its life (density)”

262 Old Civilizations op the New World

and which, in its broader sense, is used for remains of
any kind.. The use of the word hudnacu or its roots
or derivatives, as applied to anything devoid of life
or pertaining to dead persons, was common among
the Incans. Thus the statues of the Incas at the
Temple of the Sun in Cuzco were known as Chuqui-
Huancas, the burial-ground was called Huanacu-
Pampa, etc.

Those who claim that two distinct civilizations
built the city, point to the fact that two kinds of stone
were used, one a gray arsenite or andesite, the other
a reddish sandstone; that there are two types of art
and sculpture in evidence, and that there are many
half-finished stones and sculptures indicating that the
workmen were forced to leave their tasks uncom¬
pleted, as if by a sudden attack or some other unex¬
pected calamity.

But I fail to see how any of these facts prove the
point. The fact that two varieties of stone were used
means little if anything. It may have been the result
of personal preference on the part of the architects
or workmen. It may have been due to expediency,
as for example when a monument or other piece of
stonework was required in a hurry, and the sand¬
stone could be cut and sculptured in a fraction of the
time required to complete a monument in andesite.

oreover, there is no rule or order of sequence in the
case of the two kinds of stone. Very often one may
find two monoliths, or even two masses of building
stone, one of sandstone and one of andesite, side by
side and obviously cut and erected at the same time.
Neither have I been able to find any distinct differ¬
ence or any sharply marked line of demarcation in

The Mystery of Tiahttasaco 263

the sculptures, stone-carvings, decorations, etc. To
be sure, there is considerable variation in the technical
quality of the work, and, to some extent, in the pre¬
vailing designs and motifs used. But this is no more
than might be expected as the result of individual
variation in skill and artistic talent on the part of the
workmen, and certainly not nearly so great a varia¬
tion as we find in the arts of other races when we
examine the results of their work through many
centuries and innumerable generations. In fact, it is
surprising that there is so little difference between
the earliest, or apparently oldest, work of the
Tiahuanaeans and that of the latest period of their
existence.

That many of the monoliths were abandoned half
finished may point to some sudden catastrophe; prob¬
ably to some overwhelming calamity that completely
wiped out the inhabitants of the city, such a catas¬
trophe as an earthquake, a volcanic eruption, a
flood, a pestilence, or even a sudden attack by over¬
whelming numbers of some savage enemy. Even so
it does not prove that the exterminated race was
superseded by its conquerors or by any other race
until the days of the Incas who, we know, had no
hand in the building of the city or in its destruction.

Although the city originally covered a vast area,
and was undoubtedly continuous over that area, the
ruins are now more or less separated and divided into
distinct sections which are commonly designated as
Akapana (the Eortress or Hill of Sacrifices), Kala-
sasaya (Temple of the Sun), and Tunea-Puncu
(the Place of Ten Doors), besides several smaller
groups, individual monuments, idols, etc.

264 Old Civilizations of the New World

# The first and most prominent objects seen by the
visitor to Tiahuanaco are several badly defaced, im¬
mense stone images close to the railway track, in their
design and arrangement most strikingly like the
similar monuments found at the ruined temple site
at Code in Panama. (See Chapter VI.) A short
distance east of these rises the truncated pyramidal
hill of Akapana. It has been claimed that this bilf
which is approximately one hundred and seventy feet
in height, is entirely artificial, but my examinations
and studies of the spot convince me that it is largely
natural, and that, instead of being built up from the
surface of the plain, together with several smaller
hills about it, Akapana was originally much larger,
and that much of the natural material was removed in
order to give it and its neighbors the pyramidal forms
desired. In form its base is rectangular, four hun¬
dred and ninety by six hundred and fifty feet, with
each side almost mathematically in line with the re¬
spective cardinal point of the compass. Originally
the sides, for a portion of their height at least, were
faced with huge rectangular stone blocks and smaller
rocks, but the greater part of these has been carried
away by the natives for their own uses, while hun¬
dreds of tons of the walls were crushed and used as
ballast for the near-by railway.

Originally, too, a huge water-basin occupied the
top of the hill with stone conduits leading from it to
the base, while an immense stone stairway gave ac¬
cess to the summit. All of these have been broken,
thrown about or removed entirely, and from the por¬
tions remaining it is impossible to say whether Aka¬
pana was intended as a place of worship, a temple

265

The Mysteey of Tiahuanaco

to the rain-god, a sacrifieial pyramid, a fortress, or
merely as a residence or lookout.

Far more interesting, because it is in a better state
of preservation, is the so-called Temple of the Sun
or Kalasasaya, about one thousand feet from the
northern base of Akapana. Here the earth has been
formed into a rectangular terrace rising about ten
feet above the plain, and about five hundred feet by
four hundred feet in size. Around the four sides,
and spaced from sixteen to twenty feet apart, are
stone monuments or phallic columns fifteen to twenty
feet in height. In arrangement, form and every
other detail these columns are almost identical with
those of the temple site at Code in Panama. (See
Chapter VI.) But here the similarity ends. There
are no traces of the parallel rows of columns and
idols as at Code, and no evidence that such ever
existed at Tiahuanaco. Moreover, the temple terrace
at Kalasasaya was originally completely paved, al¬
though all but a few of the stones have been carried
off. The same is true of the huge stone idols or im¬
ages that once stood within the enclosure, and only
one immense, badly defaced idol still remains in posi¬
tion, its calm but battered face turned toward the
rising sun. At the eastern side of the temple a broad
stone stairway leads from the surrounding plain to
the terrace. The steps, formed of single masses of
stone about ten feet in width by twenty feet in length,
are in a good state of preservation, as are the two
huge monoliths standing like sentinels on either side.

It is evident that originally many of the columns
surrounding the terrace supported lintels, timbers
or slabs of stone, thus forming portals, or perhaps a

266 Old Civilizations of the New World

rude sort of colonnade, about the temple. Many of
the columns bear notches, depressions and carefully
cut mortises at or near their summits, which could
only have served to support timbers or capstones.
But all the capstones have long since disappeared.
In this connection it is interesting to note that many
of the stone monuments at the temple site at Code,
Panama (see Chapter VI), had similar notches, indi¬
cating that they, too, once bore lintels, probably of
timber, which have long ago vanished. But it is also
evident that many of the columns in Tiahuanaeo, as
well as at Code, were complete in themselves, for
their summits are smoothly tooled and rounded and
are of the phallic type. Possibly, when originally
erected, the true monuments and the stone portals
alternated, but so many are missing and so many
more have been broken or defaced that this is impos¬
sible to determine. No doubt, when Tiahuanaeo was
inhabited, there were many objects within the temple
which have now completely disappeared. Scattered
everywhere are fragments of idols and images,
broken stone conduits, bits of sculptured rock,
shattered remnants of highly decorated pottery, and

remains of what may have been stone altars or sacrifi¬
cial stones.

But despite the ruin and wanton destruction that
have taken place, the most remarkable feature of the
temple still remains almost intact—the so-called
Gateway of the Sun, which stands at the western end
of the terrace. This monolithic portal is the largest
known example of stone-cutting in the entire world.
It is cut from a single massive block of andesite thir¬
teen feet and five inches in length; seven feet and two

The Mystery oe Tiahttaxaco 267

inches in height; eighteen inches in thickness, and
with a square doorway four feet and six inches by
two feet and nine inches in size cut through its center.
The western surface of the upper portal forming the
lintel is cut in a series of low bas-reliefs of severely
plain geometrical form, and with four deep niches
which were probably designed to hold small idols or
images, very likely of gold or silver. The lintel on the
eastern face is completely covered with beautifully
sculptured symbolic figures in bas-relief, and has two
deep niches, one on each side of the doorway. The
sculptured symbols or figures are arranged in a series
of equal-sized squares surrounding a representation of
a deity, supposedly the sun-god. In either hand the
semihuman figure bears a ceremonial staff or scep¬
ter, and the rays about his head terminate in minia¬
ture jaguar heads. Flanking this central figure are
the forty-eight squares, twenty-four on each side, ar¬
ranged in three rows of eight figures each. All these
face the god as if running toward him, and each car¬
ries a small scepter or staff. The upper and lower
rows are semihuman figures with wings and crowns
and are identical in all respects. The figures of the
central row are repetitions of the others, aside from
the fact that they have condor heads. Below all these
is a line of sixteen carvings consisting of twelve hu¬
man heads in flat relief flanked by two condor heads.

No one has been able satisfactorily to explain or
interpret this remarkable sculpture which is unques¬
tionably of great ceremonial or symbolical signifi¬
cance. According to the ancient Peruvian mythology,
a giant condor-god carried the sun across the heavens
each day; and he is often represented battling with

268 Old Civilizations of the New World

a jaguar, the god of darkness or night, thus symboli-
ealy representing the eternal conflict between nisht
and day. In all probability the sculptures upon this
Gateway of the Sun represent the supreme deity „ r
sun-god with the various lesser deities paying him
homage. Although this elaborate symbol!; ei-vinv
IS most interesting it is by no means so remarkable
as the ornamenta! design and niches on the opposite
s.de of (he huge bloek of cut stone. So accurately

r,«, Perf , e0t n CUt aK ’ theSe ’ S ° geometrically and
mathematically true, that it is impossible to detect an

error even by the use of calipers, a millimeterruTe
and a draughtsman’s triangle. The same is true of
the doorway itself and of all the innumerable geome¬
trical sculptures at Tiahuanaco. How any human
emgs could have cut this hard andesite rock to such
perfect angles, with such true sharp edges, and often
to a depth of six or eight inches from the surface, un¬
less they possessed steel tools and most accurate
mathematical instruments is perhaps the greatest
mystery of the ruins.

Scattered about the plain near the temple are the
remains of several other buildings, monoliths, etc.,

u W1 n\ the ? Cepti ° n of the so-called sacrificial
altar, all have been mutilated and destroyed until

eir original forms and purposes are unrecognizable,
lhe altar, as it is commonly known, is a single block
of Rtone squared on the four sides, deeply hollowed
o form a basm-like depression on the top, and with
a narrow groove or opening on one side. If it actual¬
ly was used as a sacrificial stone it is a most unusual
type I am inclined to believe that it was never
intended for such a purpose, but was probably a

The Mystery of Tiahuaxaco 269

basin or font for holding holy water or oil or for some
similar religious or ceremonial purpose.

Separated by nearly a mile from the other ruins
is the Tunca-Puncu or Place of Ten Doors, the
largest, most impressive and most remarkable re¬
mains of all. At first sight these ruins appear to oc¬
cupy the summit of an artificial mound about fifty
feet in height and two hundred feet square. But in
reality the “mound” consists of the ruined masonry
and foundation-stones of the enormous building
which have fallen in and have been partly covered
with debris and drifted sand. Possibly the base of
the structure was formed of stone slabs and blocks
filled in with earth, but excavations show the tooled
and cut stones extending far below the summit of the
present low hill. Formerly Tunca-Puncu was known
as the Palace of the Incas, but it antedates the first
Inca by many centuries, and its true purpose can
only be surmised. Perhaps it was a regal court; it
may have been a sort of forum, a tribunal of justice
or even a temple. To-day it is such a complete ruin
that it is practically impossible even to determine its
original form. Its most salient and striking features
are its stupendous slabs of stone, its innumerable,
magnificently sculptured cornices, columns and
blocks, and its gigantic stone steps. Only those por¬
tions too massive for transportation remain. Many
of these are of incredible size, the largest single block
measuring thirty-six by seven feet and weighing from
one hundred and seventy-five to two hundred tons,
while slabs weighing forty or fifty tons each are
everywhere.

Bordering the edges of some of these largest slabs

270 Old Civilization's of the New Would

are immense stone platforms cut into square seat¬
like forms. It is possible that these served as thrones
or that thrones were placed in them, hut it is more
probable that they were designed to hold statues or
idols. Also, on the edges of every large stone slab
and block, are seen deeply cut grooves in T-shape
with holes drilled into the stone at the ends of the
cross grooves. In many places, where the stones he
side by side, these mortised recesses are in line, and it
is at once evident that they were designed to hold
metal keys or staples for binding the blocks to¬
gether. Heretofore it has been assumed that the
staples were of copper, but several have been found
among the ruins within the past two years and these
are of solid silver. From their shape and the hammer
marks upon them it is obvious that they were cast or
forged in squarish or oval section, and, after being
inserted in the grooves, were hammered in until the
metal spread and was thus locked immovably in the
slots.

Unquestionably the removal of these metal keys
caused the collapse of this stupendous structure, and
the fact that the metal used was silver and not copper
accounts for the Spaniards taking the trouble to re¬
move them. The inconsiderable amount of copper
that would have been secured, provided the staples
had been of copper, would not have been worth the
time and labor involved in extracting them, and I
think it safe to assume that all the metal keys used
in this huge structure were of silver. Copper is by
no means abundant in the vicinity, while silver is, and
the latter metal, being much harder and stronger
than copper, would have been better suited for the

The Mystery of Tiahtjahaco 271

purpose. Undoubtedly tbe Tunca-Puncu was partly
in ruins when the Dons arrived at Tiahuanaeo, and
if so the Spaniards could have obtained only those
staples which were exposed and accessible. But
there must have been hundreds of the silver keys
buried under the massive stones and used in the
foundations of the building. No doubt they still re¬
main there, as secure from molestation beneath those
one-hundred-ton blocks of sandstone as though in a
safe deposit vault.

Originally the Place of Ten Doors must have been
a beautiful and ornate structure, for fragments of
sculptured stone are scattered everywhere. In every
case, however, the designs are formed of straight
lines, squares and severe but graceful geometrical
forms. On many the carving is in bas-relief, in as
many more it is incised, but in every case there is
no slightest flaw in the true, sharp, mathematical
accuracy of the stone-cutting. Occasionally a stone
is seen with the swastika design, and crosses are very
numerous. Much controversy has been aroused over
these, but it must be remembered that the swastika
is one of the most ancient designs known to human
beings, and that simple crosses are even older. In
some cases, too, it is evident that these deeply cut,
cross-shaped niches were designed to hold timbers or
even stone lintels or slabs, and several fragments of
stone have been found with the ends accurately cut
to fit the niches.

Perhaps the most puzzling objects among these
ruins are two immense stone disks or wheels which I
discovered on my last visit to Tiahuanaeo. One of
these is completely buried under the fallen masses of

272 Old Civilizations of the New World

stone and only its edge is visible, while the other was
concealed under small fragments and is now com¬
pletely exposed. It is about seven feet in diameter,
about sixteen inches in thickness, and has a square
hole in its center. It is made of the same stone as
the ruins themselves and its surfaces show the same
type of tool marks and the same character of work¬
manship. Had I seen such an object in any other
locality I should have passed it by as a Spanish mill¬
wheel or arastra. But, as far as is known, there never
was an arastra at Tiahuanaco, and there never was
any reason for one. Moreover, the summit of the
Tunca-Puncu hill with its ruins is the last place in
the world where such a mill would be erected, while
the fact that the stone wheels were buried under the
ruins would indicate that they were there before the
stones fell apart, and hence long before the arrival
of the Spaniards.

Hitherto it has always been claimed that no
American race ever discovered the wheel, and one of
the greatest archeological puzzles has been how the
prehistoric Americans accomplished many of their
feats without it. Such a feat, for example, as the
transportation of the innumerable gigantic blocks of
stone at Tiahuanaco for distances of many miles.
But if the stone disks at the Place of Ten Doors
are actually prehistoric wheels, the problem would be
greatly simplified. With a wooden rotating axle
fitted to such wheels, slabs or blocks of stone could
be slung from the axle by means of ropes and could
readily be trundled across the plains and deserts,
for the sixteen-inch tread of the wheels would pre¬
vent them from sinking into the earth or sand. With

The Mysteky op Tiahitanaco 273

the extreme scarcity of timber in the vicinity, and
with no wood of sufficient size for constructing a
large wheel, stone would be the only available ma¬
terial, and a stationary wooden axle with the wheels
rotating upon it would have been out of the question.
The wood would have been ground and worn away
in a very short time, as there would have been a
tremendous amount of friction. But by using
greased ropes or even twisted withes as slings, and
a rotating axle with squared ends secured immovably
in the wheels, these problems would have been over¬
come.

Oddly enough, while excavating the ruins at Code
in Panama (see Chapter VI) I uncovered two im¬
mense stone disks very similar to those at Tia-
huanaco; but assuming them to have been of Spanish
origin I gave them no attention. Possibly they too
were of prehistoric origin, and we may yet discover
that the wheel was by no means unknown to the an¬
cient civilized races of the New World, but was used
when necessity demanded it.

Aside from their marvelous stonework, the Tia-
huanacans had developed many arts and crafts to a
high degree. Their pottery was beautifully designed
and finished and was far superior in form, color and
firing to that of the later pre-Incas and the Incan
races. A great many of the vessels are of the effigy
or portrait type, and from these we can obtain an ac¬
curate impression of the physical characters of the
Tiahuanacans and their customs. In every case the
beautifully modeled faces show the race to have dif¬
fered but slightly in features from the highest types
of the living Indians of the district. Occasionally one

274 Old Civilizations of the New World

is shown with features of a Mongolian type, but as a
whole they have straight eyes, broad intelligent fore¬
heads, prominent, well-formed and slightly aquiline
noses* thin lips and a calm, dignified, intelligent ex¬
pression. Often they are shown with one cheek dis¬
tended from chewing coca, the leaf so universally
used by the Andean tribes of to-day—proof that the
use of this stimulant dates back to the most ancient
times. Frequently, also, the heads are shown with
a close-fitting cap with ear-tabs, identical in form to
those of the living Indians, while full-length figures
and paintings show that the Tiahuanacans used
ponchos, sandals, ear-plugs and other articles of dress
and adornment such as are still in daily and univer¬
sal use in the region. In fact, many of the effigy
jars might have been models from life of some pres¬
ent-day inhabitant of Bolivia, and it is highly prob¬
able that the latter are, at least partly, descendants
of the race which inhabited this most ancient of
American cities.

But during the long centuries that have passed
since Tiahuanaco was a thriving, holy city the ab¬
origines have degenerated sadly and have become
much mixed. In Bolivia they are mainly of the so-
called Aimara race, while in Peru the so-called
Quichuas predominate. But these divisions are more
linguistic than racial, and both the Aimaras and
Quichuas are so named from their languages in stead
of vice versa. The Quichua tongue was the official
language of the Incan Empire and was forced upon
the people by the Incas, while the Aimara dialect was
adopted by countless distinct tribes in the dim past.
The Aimara language is considered the most ancient

275

The Mystery op Tiahuaxaco

in the New World, and was probably the dialect used
by the Tiahuanacans. The fact that it is so widely
diffused and still persists proves how far-reaching
and wide-spread must have been the power and in¬
fluence of the prehistoric Tiahuanacans. Otherwise
it would have become mixed with the various tribal
tongues or lost altogether, ages ago.

We have other evidences of the vast dominion and
influences of the mysterious civilization of Tiahuana-
co. Everywhere, throughout the Andean region,
along the coasts, and for thousands of miles north
and south, we find remains of prehistoric cultures
showing unmistakable proofs of Tiahuanacan influ¬
ence. And always, these are in the most ancient or
lowest strata, thus proving that the Tiahuanaco civili¬
zation was beyond question the most ancient civiliza¬
tion in South America, and hence in the western
hemisphere. But when, at what period in the history
of the New World, this civilization thrived, no one
can say. It is folly even to guess at the date when
Tiahuanaco was in its glory. It must have antedated
the Christian era by many centuries; it must have
required hundreds of years to lay out and construct
the city and its stupendous edifices, and the civiliza¬
tion must have been flourishing for ages before it at¬
tained its culmination at Tiahuanaco. To develop
such an advanced and far-reaching civilization must
have required an almost immeasurable time, and un¬
less the Tiahuanaco civilization was brought, fully
developed, from some unknown distant locality, the
highlands about Lake Titicaca must have been in¬
habited by civilized human beings long before the
Children of Israel fled from Egypt, perhaps before

276 Old Civilizations of the New Would

the infant Moses was hidden among the bulrushes.

Unlike the Israelites, who left us a history, how¬
ever inaccurate it may be, of their times, the Tia-
huanacans left nothing but their ruins, their utensils
and their language. It is even doubtful if they left
any human remains to aid us in solving the mystery
of their identity. Many skeletons and skulls have
been found in and about Tiahuanaco, it is true, but it
is questionable if any of these are those of the build¬
ers of the city. Many are unquestionably those of
the much later Incan inhabitants of the district; oth¬
ers are of men and women who, as proved by the in¬
ferior character of the pottery and artifacts
associated with them, were not of the highly civilized
Tiahuanaco people, and until some epochal discovery
is made, Tiahuanaco will remain the most fascinating
mystery of all the prehistoric American cities.

CHAPTER XIV

THE INCANS AND PRE-INCANS

(See end of chapter for pronunciation
of Incan names.)

Every one knows of the Incans, but comparatively
few possess any correct or definite knowledge of the
civilization destroyed by Pizarro. The popular mis¬
conceptions are due to the fact that much if not most
of the public's knowledge of the Incans has been ob¬
tained, either directly or indirectly, from the books
of Prescott and other authors whose accounts are, as
a rule, greatly exaggerated and far from accurate.
Prescott’s The Conquest of Peru has become a classic,
and yet, in the light of our present-day knowledge, we
know that it is far from the truth in many respects.

Unquestionably Prescott intended his book to be
accurate, but he was woefully handicapped. He had
never visited Peru nor the west coast of South
America, he knew nothing of the Incans at first hand,
and his information was all obtained from outside
sources. A large portion was culled from the works
of Gareilasso de la Vega, the historian, who was the
son of an Incan princess and a Spanish soldier and
who might have been expected to possess a first-hand
and intimate knowledge of his maternal ancestors.
But, as a matter of fact, it was quite the contrary.
From the lips of his Incan mother this historian

278 Old Civilizations of the New World

heard the story of the race, it is true, but he also
heard countless myths, legends, folk stories and al¬
legories. Fact and fiction became inextricably
mixed, and Prescott and others assumed that all was
true history. The errors, the exaggerations and the
purely fanciful features have been so long accepted
as facts that to-day it is next to impossible to sepa¬
rate one from the other or to correct the long-estab¬
lished errors.

Even the word Inca is misconstrued, improperly
used and misapplied. It is almost universally used
as a racial name, and people speak of the “Incas” as
they do of the Sioux, the British or the Germans. But
there is not and never was such a race as the “Incas.”
The word Inca merely signified a ruler or king, or
rather a particular dynasty, and it is just as erro¬
neous to refer to the ancient or modern aborigines of
Peru and its vicinity as Incas as it would be to call
the British “Kings” or the Germans “Kaisers.”
But it is perfectly correct to speak of the Incan
Empire, the Incan civilization or the Incan con¬
federation, just as it is correct to speak of the King¬
dom of Great Britain, or the German Empire. And
just as the British or the former German Empires
consisted of a number of states, races and cultures
confederated and dominated by a line of hereditary
kings, so the Incan Empire consisted of a vast
number of distinct races, tribes and cultures con¬
solidated and ruled by the regal Incas. In fact, I
might carry the simile even further, for, like the royal
family of England and of many European countries,
the Incas were of a different race from their subjects.
Finally, although we are accustomed to refer to all

279

The Incans and Pre-Incans

the ruins, remains, mummies and works of ancient
civilized races in western South America as Incan,
the true Incan Empire was comparatively young at
the time of the Spanish conquest, and the greater
portion of the remarkable remains of prehistoric
civilizations which are scattered over Ecuador, Peru
and Bolivia are not attributable to the Incan culture.
Ages before the first Inca saw the light of day, the
countries which the Incas afterward ruled had been
inhabited by highly cultured and civilized races whose
works far excelled those of the Incan civilization.
Who these people were, whence they came, why or
when they disappeared are all unsolved mysteries.
We know that their numbers were vast, that they
were highly organized and industrious; that they had
attained to astounding heights in their knowledge of
engineering, mathematics, architecture, astronomy
and arts, that they performed feats which are so in¬
explicable that they appear almost supernatural;
that in many respects no race, ancient or modern, has
ever excelled or even equaled them, and that they had
completely vanished unknown centuries before the
commencement of the Incan dynasty.

Fortunately for us, they inhabited a land where
climatic and other natural conditions are the most
favorable for the preservation of organic matter, and,
as a result, their works, their manufactures, their
utensils and implements, their garments and even
their bodies have remained almost intact through
hundreds, thousands of years. From these remains
we have obtained a good idea of their lives, customs,
social organizations, religions, arts, habits and home
life. We cannot, with any great certainty, declare

280 Old Civilizations of the New World

how many of these distinct civilizations existed, which
was the oldest, or whether they followed a more or
less evolutionary order, or whether long periods
elapsed between them. Even the Incan races at the
time of Pizarro knew nothing of these predecessors
of their own civilization, and, aside from vague and
, obviously mythical traditions or legends, they could
throw no light upon their history. Hence, aside from
one or two exceptional cultures, all of these prehis¬
toric people are classed merely as pre-Incas, and as
the majority of true Incan and pre-Incan remains
are found side by side, or are hopelessly mixed, it
will serve our present purposes to treat them to¬
gether.

When the Spaniards arrived on the west coast of
South America, they found the country from Ecua¬
dor to Chile inhabited by vast numbers of highly
cultured and civilized people under a king or emperor
known as the Inca. At that time the ruling Inca,
Atahualpa, had recently been victorious in a civil war
and had taken his brother, Huascar, prisoner. Ac¬
cording to the Incan tradition, there had up to that
time been thirteen Incas reigning over the empire, the
first Inca and the founder of the empire having been
Manco-Kapac who, with his sister-wife, Mama-Ocllo,
appeared on the scene from Lake Titicaca and de¬
clared themselves the Children of the Sun. At the
spot now known as Cuzco they established their
capital and laid the foundations for a vast confedera¬
tion that eventually extended for more than three
thousand miles north and south and from the Pacific
coast to beyond the Andes; an area of more than
twelve hundred thousand square miles, containing up-

The Incaxs axd Pbe-Ixcaxs

281

ward of twenty million people,—the largest area and
the largest population under one government exist¬
ing in the New World prior to the Spanish conquest.

Following Manco-Kapac, the hereditary Incas
were: Sinchi-Roca; Lloque-Yupanqui; Mayta-

Kapac; Kapac-Y upanqui; Inca-Roca; Yahuar-
Huakac; Wira-Kocha; Inca-Yupanqui and his twin
brother Pacha-Cutic who ruled jointly; Tupac-
Yupanqui; Huayna-Kapac, Cusi-Huascar and his
half-brother, Atahualpa.

Rut it is obvious that the tradition regarding
Manco-Kapac is largely if not wholly allegorical.
Assuming that each Inca reigned for fifty years,
which is highly improbable if not impossible, then
the Incan Empire could not have existed for more
than six hundred years before the arrival of the
Spaniards. And it is utterly preposterous to believe
that a civilization and a communism such as Pizarro
found could have been built up and developed in six
centuries, even if the Incans had borrowed from their
predecessors, of which there is no real evidence.
Whatever may be the truth regarding Incan history,
whether the empire had been in existence for six hun¬
dred or six thousand years prior to the European in¬
vasion, there can be no question regarding the heights
it had reached. Fortunately for us, the Incan Em¬
pire was still flourishing at the time, and innumerable
accounts of the people, their customs, life, govern¬
ment, religion and other matters were written by
Spanish priests and others who recorded their per¬
sonal observations, and whose invaluable works are
still in existence.

Although, as I have said, the most stupendous and

282 Old Civilizations of the New Would

amazing works of the ancient Peruvians and their
neighbors antedate the Incan dynasty, and while a
vast amount of undeserved credit has been given the
Incan people for their engineering, mathematical
and other attainments, the races under the Incas had
attained almost unbelievable heights in many ways.

To students of sociology they are of the utmost
interest, for nowhere else in all the known history of
the entire world, has there been such a complete and
successful communistic society. Individuality and
freedom of thought, life and action were all sub¬
servient to the community. From birth to death, the
lives, actions, tasks, social status, homes, marriages
of the people, and even the destinies of the offspring,
were planned, regulated, ordered and carried out ac¬
cording to inexorable laws. Every individual, other
than those of royal blood or the priesthood, was a
mere cog in the mighty wheel of the empire, and
every individual was a numbered, tagged unit of the
whole. At birth a man’s or a woman’s place in the
scheme of things was ordained. At five years of age
every child, male or female, was taken over by the
government and reared and trained for the occupa¬
tion, the position or the task to which his entire fu¬
ture life was to be devoted. A man was forced to
marry when he reached the age of twenty-four, and
eighteen years was the age limit for spinsters. Once
married, neither husband nor wife had any say as to
the future of their children.

If spinners were needed the girls were trained as
spinners; if soldiers were required the boys were
trained as soldiers. If an agricultural community re¬
quired additional members, the requisite number of

The Incans and Pee-Incans 283

men and women were taken from some community
where there was an excess of people and were trans¬
ported to their new homes where they were forced to
remain. Aside from the privileged classes, every
one was equal, both socially and in worldly goods.
All shared equally, all contributed equally to the sup¬
port of the government, the army, the state, the re¬
ligion and the community.

Each town, village and hamlet carried on its own
particular allotted art, trade, industry or occupation.
One village might be devoted entirely to carding
wool, another to dyeing the yarns, another to weav¬
ing. By this method trade and intercourse were
established, and to this day the custom still prevails to
a large extent among the Indians. It is not unusual
to find the inhabitants of two villages a few miles
apart journeying fifty miles or more to a market
town and there bartering their goods with one an¬
other, to return, often side by side, to their homes;
but never dreaming of strolling from one village to
the other to exchange their wares.

Law and order were rigidly enforced; there were
penalties provided for every misdemeanor and crime,
and many of these, judged by our standards, were
far out of proportion to the offenses. So strictly en¬
forced were the Incan laws that Mancio Sierra, writ¬
ing from Cuzco on September 15, 1589, declared
that at the time of the conquest the Spaniards
never found a thief, a liar nor a sluggard in the entire
empire. The most serious crime was blasphemy,
directed at the sun, the priests or the Inca.
For this the penalty was death, following the most
fearful tortures. A Virgin of the Sun or any nun

284 Old Civilizations of the New World

who violated her vows was buried alive, and the vil
lage where she belonged was utterly destroyed to!
gether with many of its inhabitants. Murder*and
adultery were punishable by death or torture Theft
or dishonesty resulted in the culprit’s being branded
° r l !fe - ^ lars and scandal-mongers were flogged for
the first offense, beaten with a club at the second, and
had their tongues nailed to a board for the third of-
tense. Incorrigibles were put to death, and petty
offenses were punished by floggings, or, in some cases,
e offender was forced to carry a heavy stone when¬
ever he went, the duration of the period varying with
the seriousness of his offense.

Human sacrifices were absolutely prohibited under
heavy penalties; the killing, maiming or imprison¬
ment of captives taken in war was prohibited, such
prisoners being deported to some remote district
where they were given their liberty and a plot of land
and were transformed into useful citizens. Divorces
were granted for various causes, such as adultery,
habitual misbehavior, brutality, immorality, etc.
lhey were also given for reasons of state and were
then compulsory, whether or not desired by either
or both of the interested parties. Either the prefect,
the priest or the tribal chief could enforce divorces,
-polygamy and polyandry were prohibited, but the
Incas were wise enough not to interfere too much
Wit the local customs of their colonies and provinces.
Just as the British Government permits its Indian
subjects to follow their own religious observances and
domestic customs unhindered, so the Incas permitted
the inhabitants of their conquered provinces to fol¬
low many of their tribal and time-honored customs.

The Incans and Pre-Incans 285

provided they did not clash with the national laws.
Hence, in many localities, especially in the eastern
districts about the Amazon tributaries and in the
tropical Montana, polygamy was in vogue. As far as
is known, polyandry existed in only one locality—at
Torontoy—and this was from necessity rather than
choice. The eastern frontier was frequently attacked
by the savage Amuenshas and Campas, who made
more than a hundred raids upon the outlying Incan
towns, and, in 1499, successfully attacked the fortress
of Ollantay. On these invasions the savages killed
all males and carried the women aw T ay as captives.
As a result, the few survivors were largely men who
fled to Torontoy and there established a new settle¬
ment. To meet requirements and conditions, poly¬
andry was adopted, each woman having two, three or
four husbands. Moreover, as these fugitives were
closely related, the polyandrous unions were fre¬
quently contracted between brothers and a sister.
When word of these conditions reached the Inca he
used the strongest measures to suppress the custom,
transporting members of the colony to other districts,
breaking up unions of near relatives, forcing the peo-
• pie to marry individuals from other localities, and
inflicting the most severe penalties for any violation
of the new order of things.

AJthough under Incan laws men and women were
compelled to marry, still they were at liberty to
choose their own mates. The courtship and marriage
customs varied somewhat according to tribes and dis¬
tricts. Often the girl was bought, at least symboli¬
cally, by the youth. At other times she was—quite
voluntarily—abducted and hidden by her lover who

286 Old Civilizations of the New World

then visited her home, paid for her with presents and
ehicha, and asked her parents to consent to his keep¬
ing her. Following this there was a period of eight
days of “proof,” or a short trial marriage, during
which time the groom could reject his bride if she did
not come up to expectations physically or in her abil¬
ity to sew, weave or perform the domestic duties of a
wife. Girls who were not adepts at the essential arts
and industries were soon found out and rejected, un¬
til they were forced by the requirements of the law to
become proficient in wifely duties.

Widows were much preferred to virgins owing to
their greater experience and skill in household duties,
and were known as chuqui-sonkos or hearts of gold.
Widows, however, never married widowers, though
whether they preferred the single men or whether the
widowers preferred maidens, is uncertain. In those
localities where there was a superabundance of single
men, the camachicue or prefect had them lined up in
the plaza facing the file of marriageable girls, and
each was forced to select a girl. In case a man de¬
sired a particular girl who already had been chosen
by some other youth, he was obliged to content him¬
self with the next best.

Naturally, in a confederation built up of innumer¬
able distinct races, a common language was required,
and hence the Incas forced the people to acquire the
Quichua dialect, and Quichua became the recognized
tongue of the Incan Empire, even though the people
retained their own local dialects in some places. Nat¬
urally, too, one of the results of the communistic gov¬
ernment was to create an enormously wealthy and
elaborate Court and a large, powerful and wealthy

The Incans and Pbe-Incans 287

priesthood, for a large proportion of all products,
manufactures and returns from labor went to the
Inca and to the priests. Under the law, the head of
each family received a portion of land, comparative
to the size of his family, a certain number of llamas,
or alpacas if in a pastoral community, or the equiv¬
alent in other possessions. But the fruits of his own
and his family’s labors and industry were not theirs
to do with as they pleased. Everything was divided
into three portions: the first for the Inca; the second
for the “Sun” or Church; and the third part for the
community or people. But it must be admitted, to
the credit of the Incas and the priests, that once the
two-thirds allotted to them were acquired there were
no further demands upon the people. From the gov¬
ernment’s share all public works were carried out, all
expenses of the enormous army, of wars and of con¬
quests defrayed, all the pomp and luxuries of the
royal family paid, all the costs of maintaining a com¬
plex, expensive and ceremonial religion taken care
of. Moreover, in the case of outlying tribes and races
which had been brought under Incan dominion, but
formed no truly integral part of the Empire, the an¬
nual tribute or taxes they were forced to pay were
equally divided among State, Church and common¬
wealth. Largely this tribute was in the form of gold,
precious and semiprecious stones, copper, silver and
other riches. It was mainly from these outside
sources that the Incan people secured the incredible
quantities of precious metals and gems which so
aroused the cupidity of the Spaniards, and led di¬
rectly to the destruction of the Incan Empire.

The empire, however, was already on the decline.

288 Old Civilizations of the New World

Despite the fact that the communistic government
had proved the most successful of its kind in the his¬
tory of the world, and had prospered and increased
to stupendous proportions, there was constant and
increasing unrest among the people. Already there
had been numerous revolts and bloody civil wars, and
had Pizarro not arrived when he did, in all probabil¬
ity the empire would have ceased to exist as an entity
in a short time. And had it not been that the Incans
were engaged in civil wars and rebellions, the Span¬
iards would have had far from an easy task to con¬
quer them.

If we are to believe Incan traditions, and no doubt
there is much of truth in them, Manco-Kapac and
Mama-Ocllo (or whoever were the founders of the
Incan Empire) found raw material with which to
build up a civilization when they first arrived upon
the scene. Long before the Incan dynasty began, the
pre-Incan civilizations had vanished, and the natives
had largely reverted to barbarism. To be sure, the
Chimus in the north had their own civilization, with
the great city of Chan-Chan as their capital, and
there were scattered cultural centers in the Rimac
Valley, about Pisco, along the coast, and perhaps
elsewhere.

Starting at Cuzco as their headquarters, the first
Incas developed the nucleus of a new civilization,
promulgated laws, instructed the people in arts and
industries, and amalgamated many diverse tribes.
The facts that these supposedly divine persons ap¬
peared suddenly and from nowhere, claiming to be
the son and daughter of the sun; that they possessed
a knowledge of matters unknown to the natives, and

The Incans and Pre-Incans 289

that they were of such superior intellect, aD indicate
that they were of a distinct race from the inhabitants
of the country, perhaps survivors of the pre-Incas or
the Tiahuanacans. We must accept this theory or
else believe that they were inspired and possessed
some of the divine attributes accredited them in the
legendary lore of the Incans, for there appears to
have been no slow and gradual development or evo¬
lution of culture following their appearance. Rather,
it was an abrupt and entirely revolutionary order of
things, exactly as though the laws, customs, arts,
sciences, industries and social organization of the new
regime had been brought, ready-made and fully de¬
veloped, from another sphere or unknown land.

Very rapidly the empire was extended. Cuzco be¬
came a great and populous city. Magnificent tem¬
ples were built, stupendous engineering feats were
carried out; millions of acres of arid desert lands were
brought under cultivation by means of immense irri¬
gation systems, and rich cities were established in
many places. Although the industries, arts and
other features of the new civilization were influenced
by or copied from those of the pre-Incas, there was
practically nothing in common with the civilization
of these earlier people, any more than our own civ¬
ilization has any direct connection with that of the
Egyptians or the Chinese, even though we borrow
and use Egyptian and Chinese motifs for many pur¬
poses. From-the small beginning near the shores of
Lake Titicaca, the Incan power spread north, south,
east, and west; but it was not until the accession of
Huayna-Kapac, the eleventh Inca, that the empire
reached the zenith of its power, extent and wealth.

290 Old Civilizations of the New World

Huayna-Kapac was an ambitious, indomitable em¬
pire-builder, a soldier, a statesman and a conqueror
who may well be likened to Julius Caesar or Napo¬
leon. It was his dream to extend the Incan Empire
to include all of the then known world. Under his
reign the boundaries of the empire were pushed in
every direction for thousands of miles. The Chimus
were conquered and reduced to mere vassals, and
Chan-Chan was destroyed. Southward the triumphant
irresistible armies of the Inca swept on to central
Chile, and northward the Incan legions penetrated
to northern Ecuador and subjugated every race and
tribe they met. The powerful kingdom of Quito was
conquered, and the daughter of the dethroned and
captive king was espoused by the victorious Inca.
Huayna-Kapac even penetrated the tropical Mon¬
tana district beyond the Andean plateaus, and al¬
though he never completely conquered the savage jun¬
gle tribes of the district, many of them were forced to
pay annual tribute to the Inca. Aside from offensive
and warlike campaigns, immense public works and im¬
provements were conceived and carried out by tliig
Inca. But as with Borne, the power, the wealth, and
the oppressions of Huayna-Kapac’s reign proved the
last straw, and the long-smoldering fires of discon¬
tent and revolt burst into flame in scores of places
throughout the empire.

Of the union of the Inca with the Quito princess,
a son, Atahualpa, had heen born. Although his half-
brother, Cusi-Huasear, was the elder and the legiti¬
mate heir to the Incan throne, yet Atahualpa was the
favorite son of the Inca and, upon the death of
Huayna-Kapac, he was given Quito, while Huascar

The Incans and Pee-Incans

291

was made Inca of Cuzco. Once the empire was thus
divided its doom was spelled. Hitherto each sporadic
revolution had been confined to a certain district and
to a small portion of the community, and the upris¬
ings had been easily crushed. But now the entire
empire was split into two factions. Each of the two
brothers was jealous of the other’s power; open war
between them broke out, and although Huascar was
killed and Atahualpa was victorious, his triumph
brought about his own downfall and death. By de¬
ceit and trickery he was made a prisoner by Pizarro
who promised him his liberty in return for a vast
ransom in precious metals. But when the greater
part of the treasure had been handed over to the
Spaniards,* they violated their pledges and executed
the betrayed Inca on the flimsy pretext that it was
just punishment for having caused the death of
Huascar.

In most cases the Dons grossly exaggerated the
amount of treasure or loot they obtained from their
conquests. But no man could exaggerate the amount
of riches in the possession of the Incas. The quan¬
tity of gold they had accumulated was almost incred¬
ible, and even the Spaniards, already accustomed to
finding wealth beyond their wildest dreams, could not
believe their eyes when they looked upon the stupen¬
dous quantities of gold, silver and gems in the Incan
temples and palaces. The woodwork of the Temple
of the Sun at Pachacamae was fastened together with
gold nails and when, at Pizarro’s orders, these were

♦The ransom paid over consisted of sufficient gold to fill a room measuring
nine hv seventeen bv twentv-two feet with twice the amount in silver in ad-

292 Old Civilizations of the New World

removed, they were found to weigh more than thirty-
two thousand ounces, roughly a value of over half a
million dollars in our money. Many of the most
valuable objects in this temple had, however, been
hidden from the Spaniards and had been secreted in
and about Lurin. These, as far as is known, have
never been recovered. The riches contained in the
Temple of the Sun at Cuzco were far greater and
were almost beyond belief. Were it not that the rec¬
ords of the Dons and all contemporaneous accounts,
as well as Pizarro’s official reports, agree, we would
be forced to regard the stories of the temple’s riches
as the most fanciful fiction. The amount of loot tak¬
en from this temple by the Spaniards in 1535 totaled
more than twelve million dollars in our money, and
this was but a tithe of the treasures which had been
in the temple a short time previous. Incalculable
amounts of gold, silver and gems had been taken
away in the vain attempt to ransom Atahualpa, and
even more had been hurriedly removed and hjdden to
prevent the sacred objects from falling into the hands
of the invaders. Some of this hidden treasure was
found by the Spaniards, but much more has never
been recovered.

Among the articles which were eventually found
and shipped to Spain was the immense image of the
sun, a golden disk with silver rays tipped with im¬
mense jewels. This was hidden in the Willca Pampa
and, forty years later, was found by accident and was
sent to King Philip II of Spain by the Viceroy Don
Francisco de Toledo, together with a letter dated the
ninth of October, 1572. Another golden sun of much
smaller size was found in the temple and, for a long

293

The Ikcans axd Pee-Incahs

time, was mistaken for the original image. So nu¬
merous and so large were the pearls and precious
stones possessed by the Incans that the Dons could
not believe them genuine and put many of the gems
to the “test by hammer” breaking them into pieces,
most of which were later converted into rosaries and
other religious objects by the priests.

Most of the gold, silver and precious stones in pos¬
session of the Incas was obtained in the form of trib¬
ute from innumerable subject tribes. But vast
quantities were secured from extremely rich placer
workings, especially those of the Maranon district
near Laurikoeha, Chuac, Rain, Chuquis, Pamp am ar¬
ea, Quihuilla, Chuquipampa, Patas, etc. A great
deal also came from the Quimsa Wiri mine between
the Cascay and Cayumba Rivers, which is one of the
almost fabulously rich “lost” mines. Incan records
state that from the mines of the Camanta Mountains,
two hundred and fifty carriers transported over ten
tons of gold to be used in making the immense gold
r»haln that Huayna-Kapac ordered to commemorate
the birth of his eldest son, Huascar. This was the
famed chain, seven hundred feet in length, which was
to be a portion of the ransom for Atahualpa. When
word of his death was received the treasure was hid¬
den by the Incans. Some legends say it was sunk in
the Lake of Ureos, others that it was hidden in a cave
near Sorata. In addition to this chain there were
seven thousand loads of gold of seventy-five pounds
each, being brought from Chuquis for Atahualpa’s
ransom. This was concealed in a pit or cavern near
Piscobamba. This almost inconceivable treasure,
having a value of nearly one hundred and sixty mil-

294 Old Civilizations of the New World

lion dollars, has never been found. Taken altogether
the gold of the Incas was probably the greatest accu¬
mulation of the precious metal the world had ever
known prior to the time of the conquest.

Gold, however, was valued only for its beauty, its
ductility, its imperishable nature, the ease with which
it could be worked and the fact that its color was sym¬
bolic of the sun. It had no intrinsic nor monetary
value, and it was used solely for ornaments, decora¬
tions, religious vessels and other objects, for cere¬
monial articles, and even for implements and utensils
for utilitarian purposes. As goldsmiths, the Incans
never approached the perfection of the Chimus, the
Mayas, the Aztecs or many of the more primitive and
less cultured races of Central and South America.
As a rule, the true Incan metal work was rather
crude. The bulk of the real Incan gold and silver
objects are very thin, and are hammered or beaten
into shape, the designs or patterns upon them being
sometimes incised or engraved, and at other times
pressed or hammered out like repousse work.

In addition to gold and silver, the Incans used cop¬
per, or a natural bronze alloy, extensively. Many of
their tools and weapons, as well as ornaments and
images, were of these metals, and various methods
were employed in forming them. Many were cast,
others were forged or hammered into shape, and oc¬
casionally welding or soldering was employed. Most
of the really fine metal work ordinarily attributed to
the Incans is in reality of pre-Incan origin. But as
it is often impossible to determine whether a mummy,
a grave or a specimen is Incan or pre-Incan, usually
they are all called Incan.

The Incans and Pbe-Incans 295

Thus, at Pachacamac, the holy city near Lima, we
know from stratification examinations that there
were five distinct and separate cultures. Nearest the
surface we find the typical Incan remains in the form
of pottery, textiles, etc. Below these is a strata rec¬
ognized by a peculiar black ware. Under this are re¬
mains of an earlier culture whose ceramics were
mainly white and red painted in black. Still deeper
is the purely local culture, while beneath all we come
upon remains exhibiting the classical Tiahuanaco
features.

Yet, ordinarily, Pachacamac is referred to as an
“Incan” city, and all objects from its graves and
ruins are called Incan. As a matter of fact, Pacha¬
camac is one of the oldest cities in the western hem¬
isphere, and it antedates the Incas by thousands of
years. Possibly it was built and originally occupied
by the Tiahuanacans; but for all we know to the con¬
trary, it may have been in existence even before their
advent. For centuries before the dawn of Incan civ¬
ilization, Pachacamac had been a sacred or holy city,
and from far and near pilgrims had journeyed to it
from every direction in order to worship and make
offerings in its Temple of the Sun, or to find a last
resting-place within its sacred precincts. Even after
it had come under Incan dominion, the pre-Incan re¬
ligion survived in this great holy city.

Although built of comparatively perishable adobe
or sun-dried bricks, yet the city has survived, and,
despite its ruined state and the desecrating hands of
vandals and treasure-seekers, one may still obtain a
good idea of its size, its plan and its architectural de¬
tails. A nd to a person with an imaginative mind it is

296 Old Civilizations of the New Would

not at all difficult to reconstruct and revisuahVc *+
it was m its heyday. Although it now occupies a haT
ren desert area, there are reasons to think that in •+
ay, Pachacamac was surrounded by fertile nmr ) 1 S
twe lands and green fields. The ruins coveiL

pies, the innumerable residences, the shops and store*
houses. Within the roofless buildings, beside the
walls nr the open desert, are thousands of graves
For hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years the vast
population of the city, as well as hundreds of thou¬
sands of pilgrims, died and were buried at Pacha*
camac, so it is little wonder that the entire spot is an

™s e ure e S eei r ° POllS ' ^ centuries > scientists,

treasure-seekers, curio hunters, vandals and tourists

itTno ? 11 eXCaVatm f and disinterrin g the mummies,
it is not surprising that Pachacamac to-day presents

the appearance of a vast charnel-house. Ever^here

skffilsT d red mumm y- wra PPings, human bones,
skufls and masses of human hair, as well as broken

P , odds and ends °f textiles, cotton-spindles

me d and er ° bjeCtS T Cast aside Vthe seekers after treas-

are niiedT 1 ° S • ? pIaCGS the skuUs and hones
p m windrows, and one can scarcely walk a

TrarnP treadlng u P° n human remains.

Incan ^ achacamac vast quantities of specimens of
Incamand pre-Incan handiwork have been obtained,
and no one can even guess at the aggregate worth of

The Incans and Pre-Incans 297

gold, silver and other valuables that have been se¬
cured from the burials in and about the ruins. But
as was the case throughout the Incan Empire, the
majority of the inhabitants were poor and possessed
little or nothing in the way of precious metal. Such
things were reserved for royalty, the priests and the
aristocracy, and only occasionally is a mummy found
which bears golden ornaments. But before the com¬
ing of the Spaniards, Pachacamac itself was fabu¬
lously rich in gold. Pizarro heard tales of the city’s
treasures when at Cajamarca in 1522, and it was di¬
rectly due to these stories that he came to the Rimae
Valley. At that time the Temple of the Sun, rising
above the city, was fairly Idled with gold and silver
in the form of holy vessels, ornaments, idols, images,
decorations, offerings, a golden altar and an i mm ense
golden sun. Everything of this sort that they could
find, was stolen by the Dons and cast into the melt¬
ing-pot, thus robbing the world and science of what
were probably the most priceless archeological
treasures in the history of the world, for the mas¬
sive golden objects at Pachacamac were largely of
pre-Incan origin and may have dated back to the
first inhabitants of South America.

Pachacamac was not, however, the only city of im¬
portance in the vicinity, or near the coast of what is
now Peru. Everywhere in the Rimac Valley, along
the coastal plain, back in the hills and in every valley
from Chan-Ghan to Mollendo and beyond, are the
remains of large, well-built cities; everywhere are
adobe walls, immense mounds, the ruins of villages
and of temples. Countless more have completely
vanished, the adobe of which they were composed

m Civilizations of the New Wobld
having disintegrated through the action nf ^

ments; m countless other cases the materi^ t*'
been removed and used for other r> ateriaI has
Peruvian, Also, througW* *
there are innumerable cemeteries of \ dlStrict
taming millions of graves The ne st extent con-
near Lima is world-famed; between TJma ^dcT
Iao, near Miraflores, are numbers of
burial-mounds containing hundreds „f ,/ ™ mense
bodies buried in small ppll ki 4 - -l 10u sands of
At Pueblo Vi 1 P l a pt; A' ° f ^
e 9 ue, Pimenterp!"^

every settlement on the entire coital r,L *,° r
extensive cemeteries 1 phun, there are

*5 rZe P :S 7 c ? '*° , ae P “ P,e — *■

and buried their dead tafte 0 ' 111 ™!! 6 ' 1 * be '' aUeys -
That they must have occupied

then^bej oTburkls^dT^^T “L° b ™ us fr <™

thev m„s» i V d their stratification. That
they must have been a highly cultured w • j f /
ous race is Droved Kw • y d and mdustn-

neering feafe wJ P ^ ^ mdustries a nd engi-

aqueducts for'hundreds of milesT ^ ^ ^ ^
bridges and roads Zrl *° “ n « ate ^Ids;

— r ssl ™ rrr^rrt 8

Sy £ ^

’ and to some extent adhered to

The Incans and Pbe-Incans 299

their racial customs, even if they were united in
a confederation. The remains show cultural
and racial differences; the types of architecture vary
in different places; and the burial customs were often
distinct even within an area of a few miles. In some
places the dead were interred in tombs in immense
mounds, in others the bodies were buried in the sand
of the desert, in still others the graves were walled or
lined with stones, while in some localities the dead
were placed in stone tombs or even in caves. But
in one respect all were alike. All employed adobe
for building. Not a single stone edifice is known
in the entire district, and not a single stone idol,
image or monument of any size has yet been found.
In the more northerly sections the remains and
artifacts show a distinct Chimu influence; in the
south there are signs of Tiahuanaean influence;
but whether these outside influences were introduced
directly or indirectly it is impossible to say. But we
do know that at the time of the Spanish conquest the
entire area was under Incan domination; that the in¬
habitants whom the Spaniards found in the Bimac
and other coastal valleys were subjects of the Inca,
and that, in arts, customs and other respects they
were to all intents and purposes Incan.

Inland, in the Andes and on the trans-Andean pla¬
teaus and valleys, there are innumerable ruins and
vast cemeteries, proving that these regions also were
inhabited by an immense population for incalculable
ages. But the ruined cities, the walls and the build¬
ings of these areas differ strikingly from those near
the coast, inasmuch as they are all of stone. This
does not necessarily indicate that the people were of

*r y y UJtUuD

a different race. On the drv, warm n rQ . f ; „

less coastal area, adobe served every purpose,""and^Ts

implest, most available and cheapest material for

bmld mg ; but fc the bleak, cold, Indean

whece rains are heavy and protection from the s 2
and snow is required, adobe would have been worse
than useless, and stone was the only available ma

tWb^ Hi? anSWer ‘ But from other evidences

th ?^ b r MmgS therC is ever ^ r re ason to think
he coastwise and mountain people were distinct

races, although all were consolidated and became one

commonwealth under the Incas. Like their nrede

cessors, the Incan people followed out the use of

stone m the highlands and adobe in the lowlands* but

heir stonework was poor, crude and miserable in

comparison with that of the pre-Incas. Nowhere

else m all the world are there such amazing and in-

exphcable examples of masonry as are to be Wd

he P re - Incan ruins about Cuzco, near Lake Titi-
c&Cci, -and elsewhere in fhp A

and Bolivia. “ regl0DS of Peru

somv an°d dJ, absolutcl y ““Vm form of ma-

wo“k rf it ,r r en rem0 * dy reSembIe tte s ‘0“0-

ffo far t„ f W kn0TO ra “- This in itself would
go far toward proving that the people who erected

Uieae Cyclopean walla and buildings were of tn^m

known race. Such an entirely distinct type of bJS-

mg , not evolved nor invented all at one^ S

of I “ IS a ™' ^ " e “ remains
s3 L ° r eTOlution ary form of this ma-

hldTi 7? T‘ CertSinIy haTC b “n the case
ad the art been developed in the district. No ce¬
ment or mortar was used in this type of construct^

The Incans and Pke-Incans 301

and none was needed. The enormous blocks of stone,
sometimes weighing more than twenty tons, were cut,
faced and fitted so perfectly that even to-day, after
the lapse of countless centuries, it is impossible to in¬
sert a six-thousandth of an inch gauge between the
stones. No two blocks are alike in shape or size, but
each is most accurately fitted to those about it. No
expert modern mechanic, working with steel tools, the
most highly perfected machines, and micrometer
gauges, could produce results in metal more minutely
accurate. The structures, and each individual block
of stone to be used in them, must have been planned
and laid out beforehand. It would have been impos¬
sible to have fitted the blocks as the artizans pro¬
ceeded with their labors. No sane man can believe
that a twenty-ton stone was pecked here and there,
dropped into position, hoisted out and trued and cut
over and over again, until a perfect fit was obtained.
Even if we can imagine such endless herculean labor
being performed, it would have been impossible in
many cases owing to the fact that the stones are
locked or dovetailed together. Although some of the
stones are fairly square or rectangular and with six
faces, many are irregular in form, and some have as
many as thirty-two angles. The only way in which
such complex forms could have been fitted with such
incredible accuracy was by cutting each block to ex¬
tremely fine measurements, or by means of a
template, a process which would indicate that these
prehistoric people possessed a most thorough and ad¬
vanced knowledge of engineering and the higher
mathematics. Evidently, too, the construction of
these stupendous walls was neither very difficult nor

302

ULD CrvILIXATIONS OF THE New World

very expensive, for they are everywhere in and e
C uzco and its vicinity, and often where a rou*
built wall would have served every purpose 8 7
nearly every case they slope slightly inward toward
the top, and rarely do they show any s i gns of *

mental or decorative work. So strong and endurina
"os e“f CtU T> that the D ° nS ’ *

most efforts, found it impossible to tear them down
so they made the best of the matter by erecting thri’
own buildings within or upon the ancient walls? FoJ
this reason the finest examples are still preserved, al-
ough often concealed by cheap stucco or masonrv
Grdmarffy all of these walls and buildings are rl-
rred to as Incan, but m reality the true Incan ma¬
sonry was of an inferior type. The stones used were
much smaller than those used by the pre-Incans, the v
were more carelessly and loosely fitted together and

Tm I” 7 r ‘ ar 01 “ mmt "•

• In many places the later Incans’ work covers
the ancient masonry of their predecessors, and in such
cases where a portion of the more recent masonry

has been removed, the contrast between the two

types is very striking

Beyond doubt, the Incans found many of the pre-
ncan structures in fairly good condition when they
occupied Cuzco and its vicinity, and merely embodied
hese m their own buildings. Thus the famed Tem-
P e o he Sun at Cuzco, now included in Santo Do¬
mingo Church, is always referred to as Incan. But
e most beautiful and remarkable features of this
ancient temple are of typically pre-Incan origin. It
is obvious that the Incans, finding the temple ready
made, repaired it, added to it and made use of it as

The Incans and Pre-Incans 303

their own place of worship. Although the Span¬
iards transformed the temple to a Christian church,
and added a deal of European embellishment and
adornment to it, yet the greater portion of the struc¬
ture still remains that of the prehistoric unknown in¬
habitants of Peru.

Architecturally this Temple of the Sun is one of
the most remarkable buildings in the entire world. It
is built of immense blocks of amazingly fitted stone,
no two of which are exactly alike in size or shape, but
which are so accurately designed and cut that the cir¬
cular interior with its radii is mathematically and
geometrically perfect. No engineer of our times,
equipped with the most delicate of instruments and
the most modern appliances and mathematical tables,
could excel the work of the long-vanished designers
and artizans who constructed this remarkable temple.

In the days when the Incas held sway this temple
presented a sight which would have, made Aladdin’s
cave look tawdry by comparison. The walls, outside
and inside, were completely covered with plates of
burnished gold. The gardens were filled with trees,
shrubs and plants of silver and gold. Among the
leaves and branches of precious metals were birds,
animals and insects of gold and silver, and even the
fountains, the tools and the implements of the gar¬
dener’s trade were of the same metals. But dazzling
and marvelous as was this amazing garden, the in¬
terior of the temple was a thousand times more won¬
derful. Upon one wall, above where the Christian
altar now stands, was an immense sun of massive
gold studded with jewels which flashed and scintil¬
lated in the sunlight until the eyes of the marveling

d04i Old Civilizations of the New World

Dons were blinded with their brilliance. Opposite
this glorious sun was a huge representation of It
• moon wrought of polished silver, while about thes
two chief luminaries were the stars of silver and cold
with an arching rainbow of gold tinted in some re’
markable manner to imitate the natural prismatl'

Beneath the wondrous image of the sun were
seated the mummies of the Incan emperors wrapped
m their robes and mantles of tapestry and feathers
their false heads adorned with golden crowns, golden
masks representing their features, gold and ieweled
ornaments upon their breasts, and with ornate staffs
and symbols of office before them. And opposite
them beneath the silver moon were the mummies of
their queens and princesses, attired in all their most
prized robes and richest jewels together with twelve
life-sized solid gold statues of the dead Incas. Golden
and silver images of deities and mythological beings
Were on every side. Priceless ceremonial and reli¬
gious symbols, utensils, vessels and ornaments filled
the immense room. Marvelous draperies and textiles
covere floor and walls, and gorgeously attired

priests offered up prayers and sacrifices to the sun-
god.

The twelve golden statues of the deceased Incas,
together with many other gold, silver and jeweled or¬
naments and vessels, including most of the objects
from the marvelous garden of the Temple were or-
ered brought to Cajamarca to ransom Atahualpa.
But they never reached their destination. Some
were concealed when the Incans heard of Pizarro’s
treachery and Atahualpa’s death, but the greater

The Incans and Pee-Incans ; 5 305

portion were hidden by the orders of th^ijncan
priests who were partizans of Huascar an& Shty^
could not see the holy vessels and ornaments of the
temple turned over to the Dons to save the life of
Atahualpa whom they regarded as a usurper. Quite
a number of the hidden objects were found by the
Spaniards, but the twelve golden statues and the
greater part of the objects from the garden have
never been discovered.

Even the hardened Spanish campaigners, satiated
with wonders, glutted with treasure, stood gazing
with incredulous awe when they first entered this
Temple of the Sun. For a space they could not be¬
lieve their eyes. Before them were greater riches,
more gold than they had ever imagined in their wild¬
est dreams. But they were there to rob and despoil,
not to admire. Ruthlessly the precious symbols were
torn from their places; the regal mummies were
thrown down, hacked to pieces and their regalia and
ornaments torn off. Holy vessels were battered and
smashed. Priceless tapestries were wantonly ripped
to bits and destroyed. Magnificent rugs, and textiles
such as the world had never seen, were cut and hacked
to pieces with swords and daggers, and were used as
wrappings in which to bundle up the golden loot.
Struggling, fighting among themselves, each striv¬
ing to gain the lion’s share of treasure, the mail-clad
soldiers trampled jewels and images, battered and
hammered golden utensils into shapeless forms more
easily carried, and stripped the temple and its
marvelous garden of every vestige of precious
metal and precious stones. Heedless of the beauty,
the art, the incalculable value of their loot, the con-

306 Old Civilizations of the New World

tents of the temple, the golden plates which had cov¬
ered its walls, the amazingly wrought trees, birds and
other objects in the gardens, were cast into the melt¬
ing pot and transformed to bullion. Of that vast
treasure of the Temple of the Sun, all that remains
intact to-day are a few bent and battered plates of
thin gold that once formed part of the covering of
the outer wall, and which were dropped, trodden into
the earth and overlooked by Pizarro’s men.

Throughout the immeasurably ancient capital of
the Incas, and everywhere throughout the empire as
well, it was the same story. Every object of intrinsic
value was seized by the Dons. Everything that
hinted of paganism and that could be destroyed was
destroyed by the priests. Countless palaces, temples
and other buildings were torn to pieces to provide
material for erecting Spanish churches, the cathedral
and other structures.

But the massive walls that had withstood the ele¬
ments, the earthquakes and the wear and tear of thou¬
sands of years were beyond the ' power of the
Spaniards to destroy. By dint of immense labor and
hundreds of toiling enslaved Indians they managed
to knock holes in them here and there, to pry a few
stones loose, and to remove the uppermost tiers of
blocks. But the results were not worth the labor and
time expended, so the Dons erected their own flimsy,
ugly edifices upon the summits of the pre-Incan
works or fitted their dwellings, like parasitic growths,
within them. But the magnificent walls still remain,
hemming in the narrow, dirty, cobbled streets; form¬
ing the foundations of rows of squalid huts;
rising majestically above offal-strewn corrals and

307

The Inclans and Pbe-Ineans

markets; frowning down upon honking motor-cars
and padding llamas; enduring, indestructible re¬
minders of the strange civilization that flourished in
Peru when Spam was a wilderness and the Spaniards
were naked, cave-dwelling* savages.

Outside of the city there are even better preserved
remains of the Incas and pre-Incas. Overlooking
the city from the summit of a high hill, is the famous
fortress of Sacsahuaman, built of stone blocks as ac*
curately and carefully fitted as the finest of the tem¬
ples, but of stupendous size. Even more astonishing
is the fortress of Ollantaytambo with its walls built
of blocks of stone twelve to eighteen feet in height
and six to eight feet square, and yet trued, cut and
fitted as precisely as though formed by machinery.
Then there is Macchu-picchu, the wonderful fortified
city long hidden from the memory of man within the
jungles; Viracocha with its gigantic walls; the mag¬
nificent palace of Manco-Kapac, and countless other
pre-Incan and Incan ruins, all testifying to the al¬
most incredible engineering ability of these ancient
races.

Scattered about the country, sometimes upon the
hilltops, sometimes in the valleys, are strange round
towers of perfectly fitted stones, commonly known
as chulpas. These structures, which are about thirty
feet in height by ten feet in diameter, are mysteries.
Although popularly regarded as tombs or burial-
towers, and although mummies and many objects
have been found in some of them, there is little evi¬
dence to prove that they were erected solely to serve
as burial-places for the dead. Possibly they were
used as watch-towers, or for signaling, or they may

308 Old Civilizations of the New WorQ>

have been observatories like the towers of the Mayas.

The pre-Incans and the Incans were well up in as¬
tronomy, and the Incans had a perfect calendar sim¬
ilar in many respects to those of the Mayas and
Aztecs. The Incan year consisted of twelve quillas
of thirty days each, with five days added at the end
of each year. As the quillas were computed from the
moon’s rotation, instead of from the sun’s, and as the
monthly moon rotation is completed in three hundred
and fifty-four days, eight hours and forty-eight min¬
utes, the Incan months or quillas of thirty days, plus
the additional five days, brought their year very close
to the solar year, and to make it exactly coincide an
extra day was added every fourth year, precisely like
our system of leap-years. Unlike the Aztecs and the
Mayas, who regarded the odd five days as unlucky or
evil, the Incans made their five days an occasion for
holidays and rejoicing. They were looked upon as
days entirely apart from ordinary time, and as so
much gained each year,—a sort of extra dispensation
granted by the sun-god to enable the hard-working,
oppressed people to enjoy themselves for a space
until the new year commenced, and they were entirely
devoted to merrymaking, to dances and to pleasures.

It was during this period that the drama-opera of
Ollantay was given, perhaps the most remarkable
dramatic and musical composition ever produced by
an ancient race. The scenes were laid in and about
the prehistoric city of Ollantaytambo. To this day
the play is still given by the Peruvian Indians, al¬
though not in its complete or original form, and much
of its haunting music has been adopted throughout
the civilized world. (See Chapter XV.)

The Incans and Pre-Incans 309

!As far as is known, the astronomical instruments
and devices of the Incans and pre-Incans were of the
simplest character. By means of a sun-dial-like ar¬
rangement, or Intihuatana, consisting of a cone sur¬
mounting a large rock on which were cut marks dated
as the sun festivals, the sun’s course, the hours and all
important dates were determined by the position of
the shadow cast by the cone-shaped gnomon. For
determining the solstices, the equinoxes and many
other dates, stone columns were used. These were ar¬
ranged in four groups of two each and were known
as Pachacta wnanchac. They were set per¬
pendicularly upon high hills, two being placed to¬
ward the east and two to the west. By marking the
extreme variations of sunrise and sunset, the declina¬
tion of the sun could be measured, and the solstices
determined whenever the sun passed beyond the
central pair of columns. Probably the pre-Incans and
Incans possessed various other means of obtaining
astronomical data; instruments and devices of which
we know nothing, and which may have been utterly
destroyed by the Spanish priests, who regarded them
as devices of the devil, or which may have been lost
during the centuries that have passed.

To the Incans the time of the solstices was of the
utmost importance, for the Peruvian summer sol¬
stice, the first of September, was not only their New
Year or “Birth of the Sun” but was also the birthday
of the Inca regardless of the actual day of his birth,
for, being considered a “son of the sun” his birthday
anniversary was coincident with that of the sun it¬
self. The observance of the Incan New Year or
Birth of the Sun was the most important and holy

310 Old Civilizations of the New World

ceremonial of the Incan religion, and is graphically
described by an Inca prince named Checo who was
baptized by the Spanish priests and christened Dorn-
ingo. At seventy years of age he imparted a great
deal of information as to Incan customs to the
Viceroy Toledo who was greatly interested in gather¬
ing knowledge of Incan history. His description of
the ceremony, translated from the old Spanish, is as
follows:

“From Ms palace the Inca was carried in Ms golden
litter or Juantu , that was covered with diamonds
turquoise, amethysts, rubies and emeralds, and was
lined with the finest robes and pillows of feathers and
down, by his bearers and was surrounded by thirty-
two guards of the race of the Lucanas who claimed
the privilege of this honor. He was clothed in rich
robes of fine cloth with a wide border of fine embroi¬
dery in silver and gold. In his hand he carried the
Champi of gold, which was an elegant mace in the
form of an axe, and was his scepter. His hair was
cut short around his neck but for two fingers (plaits)
falling by his ears, and was confined by a band called
llautO; a diadem of bright colors that bore above it
two red plumes of the bird pillco-pichiu rising above
two other plumes of white from the eagle, in two
bunches above the forehead. On the left side of the
diadem came another royal symbol called huasca -
payalla that was in the form of a plate of gold set
with gems. Covering his ears were oval shells of
gold. About his neck was a collar formed of fifty-
two emeralds each the size of a pigeon’s egg, and
from this collar were hung topazes of greatest size
that were carved to represent the sun and the moon
and the fifty-two phases of the moon. Beside the
Inca was his woman and sisters and cousins. With
them went the Virgins of the Sun, the chief of the

311

The Incans and Pbe-Incans

holy men [high priest] the chief of the court of
princes, the wise men [council] and governors and
lords and officers of the warriors, together with all
the nobles the governors of provinces, the centurions
and the chiefs of cities and provinces. The sentries,
to the number of two thousand Cananas and two
thousand Chachapoyas., with their painted wooden
sluelds and garbed in bright.colored ponchos and
with great lances, occupied niches, like windows with¬
out openings, round about the city, the walls, the
Inca s house and the plazas. The great orchestra
consisted of three hundred and seventy-five taquicar
mayocs with pincullus and quenas , antaraSj pututus ,
charancos„ quepas, huancaras and tiny as. [These
instruments were in the nature of flutes, pipes, little
organs, guitars, cornets, trumpets and drums.] The
music they gave was plaintive and sad. As the sun
rose above the mountains of Sallac and Piquicho,
where is the castle of Sacsayhuman, it was watched
by fifty thousand and more as it moved toward the
temple. At sight of its rays, cries and hurrahs of joy
arose. At this solemn moment the Inca rose from his
litter, and facing the sun, raised his first finger to the
height of his mouth. At once a great silence came,
and the Inca pronounced the words: “Capak-inti-
illariymin and the multitude in chorus replied:
“Punchao-pacariyrcum/ 3 which was the chant of the
great arrival of the sun of the morning on the day of
Capak-RaymA when the sun-lord reached nearest to
the land and thus told the people of the coming of a
new year. Ending the chant, the escort and holy
men sang victoriously with the people in chorus, pass¬
ing the chant from place to place until it resounded
from the mountains in its echoes. At the close of
the chant, from various parts of the city where they
had been already allotted, maidens famed as singers,
accompanied by other virgins, sang together five

chants to thp firm A mnnn fTna

4 - 1 * *

312 Old Civilizations of the New World

f nd the J nca ’ th 5 Jf st y erse ; s of each song being gi ven
by one thousand five hundred acolytes arranged for
this solemn day about the temple of Kori-Cancha!
The chants ended, the Inca drank with the chief Tini'
man a great drink of chicha from a sacred golden cud
called a pacha formed to represent the sun and other
figures, and from which the chicha ran through a naS
or gutter to a spout whereof the Inca and the S
holy man of the temple sipped. Then all went with-
m the temple and the Inca made obeisance [or
«wicja] to the gods and to his ancestors, until the rays
of the lord of the day struck upon his gold image
whereupon the sacred fire was lighted by the Inca
who held m his hand a mirror and reflected the ravs
upon charred cotton. y

+ r T1 lf n fran ? , this fire the Virgins of the Sun struck
other fires and kindled the sacred fires throughout the
temple, and with great shouts the people hurried tq
fight their fires, for since the coming of the night be.
fore no light or fire had been left burning in the land
Great rejoicings were made through the day, and in
place of water chicha ran from the fountains, and at
the plazas and on the streets were great jars of chicha
frona which all who desired might drink their fill, for
this day was the birthday of the Inca and the birth of
the sun, the great Inti, and the New Year of the peo¬
ple of the land.”

One of the greatest obstacles in the way of learn¬
ing many important matters concerning the Incans
and pre-Incans is the fact that, as far as is known,
they had no written or recorded language. Many
carvings, sculptures and specimens of pottery have
been found which, at first sight, appear to bear hier¬
oglyphic or symbolic inscriptions. But most of these,
upon scientific examination, prove to be highly con-

The Incans and Pee-Incans 313
ventionalized representations of objects of a purely

d ecorativ e character. There are a few, however,
which are difficult to explain on this hypothesis, and
which may prove to be true inscriptions. Notable
among these are the sculptured stones at Sahhuaya-
cu, a ou one hundred and eighty miles northeast of
Cuzco, in a district probably never under In-
can dominion. I n one of these there are twenty-four
characters, all but seven of which are repeated two or

ft 1

Pre-Incan “Inscription” at Sahhuayaeu, Peru.

more times, much as if they were true letters and
formed words. The great trouble is that the same
characters seldom appear in the same sequence or
relation on any two glyphs. Moreover, were the
inscriptions carved by some race possessing a
written language, it is remarkable that so few in'
scriptions were made. And as identical or similar
characters are not known upon the ruins, monuments
or ceramics of the civilized races of the country, it
would seem more probable that they are of a sym¬
bolic or pictographic character and the work of the
savages of the district.

For sending messages and for recording certain
events, the Incas used a complex system of knotted
colored strings or cords called quipos. Records of
Imperial property were kept by means of decimal

314 Old Civilizations of the New World

knots on the quipos. Large and small knots of v,
nous colors recorded the births, deaths and marriages
m each district Various combinations of knots and
colors recorded important events, and a trained corps
of men-—bookkeepers, we might say— were kept
busy making and translating the quipo records. The
qmpo owed its origin to an evolution of the human
and, the strings representing the fingers and the
knots the joints The thinnest cord represented the
m ex nger with its knots or joints as units totaling

ml rl , OT ; eC ° nd ^ indicated tens or deck
r 1 J , represented hundreds, and the
fourth thousands. These simpler forms were elabo-
ra e y the use of varicolored strings, knots and
groups of knots, as well as by inverted knots, until
almost any record or message could be conveyed.
-For keeping accounts or recording business trans¬
actions special strings were used. These were known
as hankos and chaaras. Credit accounts were kept
on the which were often of pearls or gems,

while debit accounts were kept on the chaaras , usu¬
ally of seeds, shells or beads. The hankos consisted of
one hundred pearls or other objects strung decimally
on a cord with a pendent string carrying nine pearls
or units. The chaara was similarly arranged. In
effect these were much like the abacus. Another
method consisted of a wooden tray divided into ten
compartments. Ten pebbles in a compartment signi-
fied one hundred, and by the simple method ot taking
pebbles from a compartment on the credit side of the
tray and depositing them in the corresponding com¬
partment on the debit side, accounts of almost any
size could be accurately kept.

315

The Incans and Pee- Incans

Although nominally an absolute monarchy, yet
the Incan Government was, in many respects, republi¬
can. In addition to the Inca, there were the tribunal
of princes or Apu-Auquis, composed of men of royal
blood, and the cabinet of four wise men presided over
by a president or Apu-Tucuy-Ricac, who acted as
chairman and respresentative. In Cuzco these were
appointed by the Inca; but in the outlying districts
they were elected annually by the inhabitants, the
nominees being men who already had been in the
service of the Inca. Any unanimous decision of the
four was absolute and could be revoked or revised
only by the Apu-Auquis, or tribunal of princes. In
addition to the central federal government, each dis¬
trict or colony had its own mayor or governor, Cu~
raea, and each village or town had its own prefect or
Suyuyoc, as well as its local council or board of aider-
men known as Auquis, who acted as a sort of grand
jury, court and governing body all in one. The Incan
princes were commonly known as Huancos, or
“Golden ears,” from the fact that they wore gold ear-
coverings. This custom had an interesting origin. A
son of the Inca Pacha-Cutic lost one of his ears dur¬
ing a desperate battle and, in order to hide the muti¬
lation, wore gold plates or shells over the ears. To
commemorate the prince’s bravery, and in order that
he might not be conspicuous, the other princes
adopted the gold ear-coverings, and they became
recognized as an insignia of nobility.

The Incas, and their descendants of to-day, were,
like most Indians, extremely superstitious and be¬
lieved implicitly in omens and signs. Stubbing
one’s toe against a bit of fallen masonry signified

316 Old Civilizations of the New Wokld

that one’s wife was untrue. A vulture, alight™
over a door and spreading its wings to the sun, was
a sign of an accident to the owner of the house A
fox or a snake crossing a road in front of a traveler
presaged an unlucky journey. Bringing an amulet
from a distant spot was an omen presaging the ap
pearance of a new variety of potato. The Incans also
believed that trepanning a person’s skull always re
suited in a new variety of potato, and, oddly enough
there is no other part of the world where there are
so many varieties of potatoes as in Peru, and no¬
where else was trepanning so widely practised In
Incan days, if the current of the Desaguadero River
flowed from south to north, it was thought to indi¬
cate an uprising of the Karanca or Kallaca tribe.
The tribute demanded of the Uros and Kellay-Senka
tribes consisted of a species of parasitic insect prized
as a delicacy by the Incas. If this tribute was not
punctually paid it was deemed a sure sign of an ap¬
proaching uprising among the Karas in the south.
If more cocks than hens were hatched from eggs the
approaching end of the world was foretold.

Sorcerers, of course, flourished, and many if not
most of the priests claimed to be able to forecast
events for years to come. No doubt many of these
men were hypnotists and charlatans, but it is an in¬
disputable fact that many of their prophecies did
come true. If we are to believe the statements and
writings of the Spaniards, the Incans possessed cer¬
tain powers which are inexplicable. According to
innumerable observers and historians, as well as In¬
can traditions, the Incan races had an uncanny and
seemingly supernatural ability for conveying and re-

The Incans and Pre-Incans 317

ceiving accurate information over long distances. If
we are to credit the apparently unvarnished accounts,
it was as remarkable in its way as wireless telegraphy
or mental telepathy. An Indian could and often did
know exactly how many men or horses were ap¬
proaching long before they could be seen or heard;
he could tell where or in what direction a friend or
an enemy was traveling, and he could perform many
more equally mysterious feats.

Even to-day some of the living descendants of
these people possess the same weird power. Accord¬
ing to my friend. Dr. Juan Durand, who has devoted
many years to a study of Incan history, traditions
and life, he personally has witnessed such feats. One
night, while at an Indian hut at Raco, the Indian
owner placed his ear to the floor and told Doctor
Durand the exact number of men in a platoon of
soldiers who were passing at a distance of more than
three kilometers from the spot. Another Indian at
Panao, without rising from his couch, stated the num¬
ber of men on foot and the number of mounted men
traveling on a distant road, and even told the order
in which they moved and the direction in which they
were going.

In 1896, while between Cayumba and Monzon,
Doctor Durand’s Indian carriers deserted; but with¬
out faltering or hesitating, other Indians gave the
exact route the fugitives had taken and followed
them for eight days across deserts, mountains and
rivers where there was no sign of a trail or spoor, of¬
ten cutting across country, and found them exactly
where they had foretold.

Personally I have never witnessed demonstrations

818 Old CmuzATions of the New Would

of this sort, but I hare repeatedly visited Iudians V
the most remote spots only to find that they exnectS
me that they had full information regidiugt!
party and equipment, and had known thefe to?, 7
before I had arrived. And I have often C
formed of events by the Indians when thev coX*
by any possibility, have received word by'any or&
ay means, and later I have always found theb
information absolutely correct. AccordinT to wT
torians and to Doctor Durand, the PeruvL t
claim that they are able to recede suchtf
is ant events by their ability to “read” the barking

t^ dn W ^ S ° f theiP d ° gS ’ and that this knowledge of
the dogs language thus enables them to receivf in¬
formation and full details of matters of which other
J-e, they would know nothing. I n all p^y
this is merely an explanation to satisfy the curiosity

mystery. ^ ^ real Solution stiU remains a

But it is no more of a mystery than how the pre-
Incans cut their cyclopean stone blocks, how they

how+r d the ^ monoliths ove r long distances, or
how they accomplished many other of their feats. In

^ral pla ces m p eru , and eyen ^ ^

Which I r“ ^ imagGS f0rmed of a stone
areds’of fa i &S r does not occur ™thin kun-

•Wt ° f their Present sites > the nea rest de-

hunSed I" T k bdng ^ Ecuador ’ fu % fi fteen
hundred miles distant. One such monolith is Say-

• ° r Ea Piedra Cansada near Ollantay. This
unmense^stone, known also as El Monolito Abando-

seventee^f Monolith) measures nearly

seventeen feet m length, ten feet in width and three

The Incans and Pre-Incans

319

feet in thickness.* It is of a peculiar rock identical
with the formation about Chimborazo in Ecuador,
and which, it is claimed, does not exist anywhere in
the vicinity of Ollantay. According to the Indians
and to Incan tradition, the Saycunin was quarried at
Quito, and the monolith, saddened at being carried
so far from home, wept blood which still adheres to
it, (it is marked with a red piroxene oxidization) and
at last exclaimed: “Saycunin! I am weary!” At
this manifestation of its supernatural character, the
cacique, Urcon, dropped dead, and the stone was left,
abandoned by the terrified Indians, at the spot where
it still rests about a mile north of Ollantay.

Of course this is a purely fanciful and allegorical
myth invented by the Indians or their ancestors of
Incan days to account for the immense stone with its
blood-like stains lying by the roadside. As a matter
of fact, there are several similar monoliths of the
same material which also were abandoned in the vicin¬
ity. But there is no denying that they are of a stone
unknown even to the Indians of the district, hut
identical with formations in Ecuador. Possibly the
pre-Incans who cut these huge stones knew of a near¬
by quarry which has not been rediscovered, or per¬
haps they exhausted the supply of that particular
mineral. But there may be a basis of truth in the
ancient legend, and it would not be beyond the
bounds of possibility that these immense monoliths
actually were cut in distant Ecuador and dragged
overland to Peru. It would have been a herculean

♦The largest stone idol recorded was that of the Wfflca-Huaman which was
over fifty feet in length by twelve feet in diameter. This was destroyed
by the Jesuit priests, and it is recorded that r; required tmrty ,meu working
steadily for three days to reduce it to fragments.

- 320 Old Civilizations of the New World

task, it is true, a task that would have required im
Fears to accomplish, and yet it would have been 7
more difficult, no more astonishing than many 0 f Z

feats which we know these ancient Peruvians actual
ly accomplished. ua1 '

Among these was the construction of the marvel-
ous Incan road, a splendid highway stretching from
Quito, Ecuador, to southern Chile, a distance of over
three thousand miles in a direct line. No race not
even the Romans, ever equaled this feat of prehis
tone road-building. The highest ranges of the
mighty Andes; the deepest, most impassable canyons
the most fearful precipices, the widest deserts the
snow-capped peaks and the foaming torrents were
treated as though non-existent. Vast abysses were
spanned by suspension bridges, their immense cables
° fiber and hair ropes fastened in holes cut through
solid rock. Gorges were filled with masonry to form
immense causeways. Mountains and cliffs were
pierced by tunnels which are still in use. The loftiest
ranges were surmounted by the most perfectly com¬
puted gradients and hairpin curves, and throughout
much of its length the roadway was paved and sur¬
faced w lt h asphalt, and to this day some portions of it
are still used as a motor highway. At intervals side
roads branched off to east and west as far as the
Amazonian jungle and the seacoast. Here a second

sho7f S Hlghway ” ran north and s °uth along the

At regular distances of about twenty miles were
res-houses or stations for messengers, while every
forty miles there were “Imperial Inns.” Thes‘e
served as storehouses for food, supplies and equip-

The Incans and Pre-Incans 321

ment for the army or for relief of villages in ease of
famine; as eating-places for the army when on the
march; and as stopping-places for the Inca when
traveling. There was also a series of sentry stations,
watch-towers and forts, as well as a system of signal
fires or lights by means of which the men on watch
could transmit messages from one terminus of the
road to the other in an incredibly short time. At the
time of the revolt of the Caras at Quito, word was
sent by means of these signals, and news of the upris¬
ing was received in Cuzco four hours after the rebel¬
lion broke out. One of the duties of the watchers at
these beacons was to signal an eclipse of the moon.
The Incans believed that during eclipses the moon
was suffering the agonies of childbirth and, as soon
as the signal of an approaching eclipse was sent out,
everybody beat drums and shouted prayers and sup¬
plications to aid the planet in her trouble.

Throughout the entire length of the road there
were mile-posts showing the distance to the next rest-
house, and transportation over the road was as rapid
as over the railways to-day. Fresh fish caught on
the coast reached Cuzco within thirty hours—six
hours sooner than by way of the Mollendo-Cuzco
Railway (Southern Railroad, of Peru). From Lake
Urubamba, fish eaught in the morning reached the
Incan capital the same afternoon, and the fruits and
vegetables of the coastal districts reached Cuzco with¬
in fifteen hours.

In their ceramic arts these races reached a high de¬
velopment, but as a rule the true Incan pottery is
far more utilitarian than artistic, as might be ex¬
pected of a communistic civilization wherein industry

322 Old Civilizations op the New World

and art were regulated and controlled by law, and
individual talent and genius counted for nothing
But that the Incan people were not lacking in artistic
temperament, inventive genius, dexterity and imagk
nation is abundantly proved. In their later years'
a short time before and after the Spanish conquest*
the Incas developed a remarkable and unique art iij
woodwork. Cups, vessels, utensils, and many other
objects were highly and beautifully embellished with
colors applied like lacquer or enamel. Even to-day
after a lapse of centuries, the colors upon these are
bright and fresh. Chemicals have little if any effect
upon the pigments used, and they resist the action
of all ordinary known solvents. No one has yet been
able to learn the secret of their composition or to
duplicate them, and we may consider the work as a
true lost art.

Moreover, even if the later Incas were not note¬
worthy as pottery makers, their textiles were wonder¬
ful, although the true Incan textiles never equaled
or approached those of the pre-Incans. Many of these
are more finely woven than would be possible on any
machine-loom to-day, and examples are known in
which .there are three hundred threads to the inch.
The types and weaves of these textiles are practically
numberless. They vary all the way from the heavi¬
est, coarsest blankets, rugs and ponchos to the finest,
most delicate fabrics as thin and soft as silk. Many
were of the tapestry class, others were tied or
knotted, and others were direct warp-and-woof weav¬
ing. The dyes used have never been equaled, and to¬
day, after having been buried for centuries in the
desert sand and in stone tombs, the colors on these'

323

The Incans and Pbe-Incans

remarkable fabrics are as pure, clear and bright as
on the day they were first woven.

In patterns and designs these ancient textiles vary
endlessly. Usually they are of a more or less geome¬
trical type with human and animal figures, flowers
and other forms represented in a rather “cubist”
manner; but magnificent, graceful, curved and in¬
volved patterns and scrolls are not unusual. A
peculiar feature of a great majority of the pre-Inean
textiles is the predominance of the “six-unit” type of
design. In these every sixth figure in the pattern is
a repetition, the key-design consisting of certain dis¬
tinct forms which are thus repeated over and over
again, number one becoming number six, number two
number seven, and so on. But as the coloring may
vary to almost any extent in every figure, and may
never be repeated, the design appears to be endlessly
varied until it is carefully analyzed.

Some of the finest specimens of these textiles have
been obtained from the Island of the Sun in Lake
Titicaca, where they were found enclosed in a re¬
markable stone chest cut from a single block of rock.
Here, where Incan tradition says that Maneo-Kapac
and Mama-Ocllo first appeared, there are remains of
two distinct cultures. One of these is a primitive
inferior type known as the Chulipa while the other
is a highly advanced Cuzco form. Hence there is
reason to think that the pre-Incan civilization actual¬
ly had its beginning in this district, and that there is
a groundwork of truth in the Incan legend, even if
the chronology is at fault.

Recent investigations indicate that this allegorical
myth of Manco-Kapae being the first Inca owed its

324 Old Civilizations of the New World

inception to a confusion of names and personages
Among the folk tales and legends of the Peruvians
there is frequent mention of Wira-Kocha (the
Creator of the Lake) as the semisupernatural being
who was responsible for the cyclopean architecture
of the pre-Incas. His divine power was supposedly-
derived from the Kuntur Ticsi (Conder God) and as
Kuntur-Ticsi-Wira-Kocha he was venerated as a dei¬
ty. But he had no connection whatever with the
eighth Inca who assumed the name of Wira-Kocha.

Although the Incans and pre-Incans are common¬
ly referred to as sun-worshipers, the religion of the
earlier race was distinct from that of the Incan peo¬
ple of later years. The pre-Incan supreme God or
Creator is almost invariably represented as a puma
or jaguar, more or less humanized, and surrounded
by symbols of divine power. Usually these consist
of condors, jaguars, fishes and snakes, the first three
being symbolic of the god’s dominion over air, earth
and sea, while the serpents are symbolic of the sun’s
rays and indicate the god’s dominion over heaven. It
was not until the reign of Huayna-Kapac, the
eleventh Inca that the later sun-worship was fully
established, and even then the pre-Incan religion per¬
sisted, especially at Pachacamac and at other ancient
holy cities.

The Incan sun-god was a being who suffered and
died at the time of solar eclipses, but was reborn each
time, and he was thought to be subject to a supreme
divinity known as Pacha-Kamac or the Creator of
the Universe, whose abode was Tianah-paeTiac or
heaven. The Incas also believed in a hell or haeJc-
pachac presided over by a devil called Supay. They

The Incans and Pee-Incans

325

believed in a resurrection and an after-life, with a
heavenly existence as a reward for being good, and
everlasting tortures in the nether world for sinners.
Unlike the Aztecs and the Mayas, they had compara¬
tively few minor deities or gods, those that they be¬
lieved in being in the nature of sprites, dryads, fair¬
ies and supernatural beings rather than deities. The
similarity of the Incan religion and the Christian
faith is most remarkable. Just as we believe in a
supreme God, and in Christ His son who suffered
and died and reappeared, so the ancient Peruvians
believed in a Creator and a divine humanized son.
An d just as we worship both God and Christ, so the
Incans worshiped their Pacha-Kamac and their sun-
god, or Inti. We may go even further and compare
the Incas themselves, who claimed to be direct de¬
scendants of the sun-god, to the various modem
kings and emperors who claim “divine right” to reign
and are referred to as “heaven-born.”

And when the eighth Inca, whose real name was
Socsoc, assumed the name of Wira-Kocha, it was be¬
cause he attributed his power and his triumphs to
divine intervention, and wished publicly and official¬
ly to proclaim and perpetuate his faith in this
manner. But it is very easy to understand how the
Indians, confusing the Inca Wira-Kocha with the
divinity Wira-Kocha, built up an imaginative and
allegorical mythological tale in which they traced the
genealogy of their rulers to the sun-god himself. As
a matter of fact, the genealogy of the Incas, from
Manco-Kapac to Huascar is well known and is as
follows:

326 Old Civilizations of the New World

INCA NAME OR TITLE , nrpTT ,

1 AT x- r ACTU &.L NAME

1 Manco-Rapac Inca...p anaca

2 Smehi-Roca Inca.Panaca Raura*

3 LIoque-Yupanqui Inca.Panaca

4 Mayta-Kapac Inca.Panaca Usca

5 Kapac-Yupanqui Inca. Panaca Apuc MayU

6 Inca-Roca Inca.Panaca Wi]lca

7 Yahuar-Huakac Inca. Panaca ^

8 Wira-Kocha Inca.Panaca Socsoc

9 Inca-Yupanqui Inca*. Panaca ^

9 Pacha-Cutic Inca*.Panaca Hatun ^

10 Tupac-Yupanqui Inca.Panaca Kapac Tupg

11 Huayna-Kapac Inca.Panaca Tumi Pampa

12 Cusi-Huascar Inca.Panaca Huayca<j

13 Atahualpa Inca.half-brother of Cusi-Huascar Inca

NAME OF EMPRESS ktatu-w a a

NAME AS PRINCESS

Mama-Ocllo... tt

..

Mama-Kora.

..

Mama-Chahua.Wuarqui

Mama-Cuca...Ichi Unna

Mama-Kori Illpay.Kahuae

Mama-Micay. .. ,... Cusi Chimpu

Mama-Chicya.Ipa Huaco

Mama-Runtu Kayan. Kayan

Mama-Ipa Huarcu. .. Ipa Huarcu

Mama-Anac Huarcu.Anac Huarcu

Mama-Chimpu Ocllo.Chimpu Ocllo

Mama-Pahua Ocllo.Pahua Ocllo

Mama-Chuqui Llantu...Cantar Chuqui

But whether this royal line actually descended
from th e immeasurably more ancient rulers of the

*Twin brothers who ruled together*

The Incans and Pke-Incans 327

pre-Incans and the semimythical Wira-Koeha, or
whether they were a different stock who erected a
new civilization upon the remains of a much greater
one, we cannot say and we may never know.

PEONUNCIATION OF INCAN (QUICHTJA) NAMES

Although the Quichua (Incan) words and names
I have used are spelled phonetically, it is practically
impossible to convey the exact sounds and pronunci¬
ations by means of our alphabet, and a few words
of explanation are necessary in order to give an idea
of the Quichua pronunciation of sounds as represented
by our nearest equivalents in letters.

All vowels have the broad, soft Spanish sounds.
Double Z (ZZ) should have almost the Spanish sound
of elyay with a slightly more distinct Z than in
Spanish.

K is an explosive guttural approximating k-y!
Thus the word ako is pronounced more as if spelled
aky-o or even aq-qo. At times a slightly softer or
less guttural k is used, and this I have indicated by
substituting the letter c which should have about
the same sound as our own k.

S has the normal English sound except when final,
in which case it is pronounced as ys. In the
Quichua, the terminal s does not denote the plural,
but means “named” or “called,” as huara-s. But
for simplicity and to avoid confusion, I have as a
rule employed s to denote a plural, thus slightly
Anglicizing the words. For example: the plural
in Quichua is denoted by adding the word cuna or
many, and hence the plural of chasqui would be
chasqm-cuna. But for our purposes it may just
as well be written as chasquis.

Qui and Que have Spanish sounds of key, kay, etc.
n Vqc flip Tf.ncrlish sound, as does u, and these

328 Old Civilizations of the New World

two letters, as well as e and i may be intervW j
or transposed without affecting the meSn^
correct pronunciation of a word, owing- to S °I
that m Quichua these four vowels aTfca Illy ^
noimced and vary in different localities. t£
Quichua' may be Quechua; cuca is the same a*
cocajquipo oxquepu is equally correct. AZacu
or Huanaco does equally well; Amchita TT

K ° ^ if

J Mi , r - f sli « htJ y stated.

as, during the Colonial period, the Spanish influ¬
ence was very strong, certain words, which, in pme
Quichua, begin with a pure vowel sound, have now
become universally pronounced as if spelled with
Spanish j. Thus the word amuy can only be
expressed in its present form as hamuy or jamuv
W and v are so much alike that they are interchange'
able and as a matter of fact, their pronundatfon

taibvl iw exp f T ed by the Spani * lui 01 h ®

tuan by either of the consonants.

f FmaI1 ^’ We T must remember that the Quichua
tongue of the Incan Empire was by no means a pure
language, but was more or less a conglomerate com¬
bination of many dialects. Hence it varies greatly
m ifferent localities, each tribe having adopted
many of its own words and names, and pronouncing
e Quichua as they would their tribal dialect. In
e south the Quichua is strongly influenced by the
Aimara, m the north it contains many words of the
imu or ungas, and in the trans-Andean regions
ot Eeru it is combined with the Huanca tongue.
Often too, many Spanish words have been adopted
mto the Quichua. Probably the purest Quichua is
used in the vicinity of Cuzco.

CHAPTER XV

THE CHILDREN OE THE StJN

With the murder of Atahualpa by the Spaniards,
the Incan Empire came to an end. Cuzco was oc¬
cupied by the Dons, looted of everything of value,,
and made the headquarters for raiding-parties which
carried death, destruction and inhuman brutalities
far and near. Wherever the Spaniards found a city,
a temple or a burial-place containing gold it was
robbed, desecrated and wantonly destroyed. Thou¬
sands of the peaceful, industrious and docile Incan
people were subjected to unspeakable tortures,
forced into slavery, or ruthlessly killed. From cen¬
tral Chile to northern Ecuador, and from the Pacific
to the head-waters of the Amazon, the country literal¬
ly ran with blood. Only the valiant Mapuehes of
Araucania, and the wild and savage tribes of the
Montana forests were able to hold their own against
the invaders. The wonder is that any of the Incan
races survived.

How many thousands succumbed to hardships,
hunger and abuse, as they toiled as slaves in mines
and elsewhere, will never be known. How many
thousands were transported to other lands or were
butchered outright, no one can say. Yet they not
only managed to survive, but they maintained their
racial integrity, remained to a large extent of pure
blood, and even retained their arts, customs, habits,

330 Old Civilisations op the New Would

language and social organization. Indeed with +l
overthrow of Spain’s p„ wer ^ ®e

s ight betterment of their condition, they ranidlv • '
creased m numbers, until to-day over sevent/fi”'
per cent, of the total population of Bolivia over At'
per cent, of the population of Peru, and probable
seventy per cent, of the population of Ecuador a!e
Indians of unmixed blood who are direct d« j
of the Tahuantisuyo or “Children of the SunTas'fte

Incan people called themselves. th

While all have traits in common, and while all re
tarn many of the characteristics of the Incan organ l
nation, they keep their tribal distinctions and v2
Siderably m different sections of the l an /
Throughout Peru, and over a large part of Ecuador’
tiiey speak the Quichua of the Incans, and are com-
monly classed as Quichua, while the majority of those
m Bolivia speak the ancient Aimara tongue and are

cIlled a Quich lled A T^ S ' BUt am ° ng both the s °-

called Quichuas and the Aimaras there are a great

mmls f l and L Ub ' tribeS ’ the Precise ™ber and
themselves. 8 ^ t0 the Indian «

a re A the n Colh e be f e ": known ^ibes of the Aimaras
lias, inhabiting the country east of Lake

Titicaca; the Chutas about Cochabamba, and the

Yungas of eastern Bolivia. The more noteworthy of

fte Quichua tribes are the Huaneas in the district

about CwT 70 ., ^ CUCi ° ; tte true Quichuas
of T ,v T V d ae Monteros of the country west

L a “ Wdl as fte Chimns about Trujil-

1° and the “Incas” near Oruro, Bolivia.

Although a person familar with these Indians can

The Children oe the Sijn 331

distinguish members of the various tribes at a glance,
to the average man all appear alike. Owing to the
forced mixture and amalgamation of tribes when un¬
der Incan rule, there are no sharp physical dis¬
tinctions between the tribes, or even between those of
Quiehua and those of Aimara stock. Broadly speak¬
ing, the Quichuas are shorter, lighter-colored and
with more prominent cheek-bones and foreheads, and
longer heads than the Aimaras. The average
Quiehua is more of a yellow than a brown, and has
fairly thick lips, often a straggling beard and mus¬
tache, and is frequently of a pronounced Mongolian
type. But the Quiehua characters vary greatly in
different localities and among different tribes.
Many of those near the coasts have dark-brown s kins ,
round heads and broad noses. Near Arequipa there
is a small tribe with black skin, sharply aquiline noses
and thin lips. The Huancas are often pale olive with
finely chiseled features, while enormous, hooked
noses are not unusual. As a rule the Aimara is a
bronze or brown in color and is taller, more slender
and with a sharper nose and more receding forehead
than the Quiehua. But the Aimaras vary almost as
much as do the Quichuas. Many have well-de¬
veloped beards, many are strikingly Polynesian or
Malaysian in appearance, and gray or light hazel
eyes and brownish-black hair are not uncommon.
Both races, when dwelling at considerable altitudes,
have rosy-red cheeks, often actually purple, but ow¬
ing to their lighter skins the Quichuas appear to have
redder cheeks than the Aimaras.

In temperament the two races are totally differ¬
ent. The Quiehua is invariably docile, quiet, peace-

332 Old Civilizations of the New World

able, industrious and firmly wedded to the
whereas the Aimara is inclined to be surlv *i ]’
turbulent, quarrelsome, restless and is a husband!^’
only by force of circumstances. But the most i T*
estmg feature of both races is that they live an d 1^'
in practically the same way as did their ancestors Tn
Incan days, and carry on the same arts, pro ^
and industries. Though the costumes differ inT
tails m various localities and according to tribes thev
are, aside from these minor variatfons, hi s ^l
everywhere, and as a whole are the same as in Cn
ys. he man s costume consists of trousers
drawers of heavy, hand-woven woolen cloth a shirt
sometimes a jacket and even a vest, a poncho! a tight-
ly fittmg woolen cap, and sandals. He may or may
not wear a hat, which may vary from an tL 7
made felt affair, patterned after the hat of the white'

Pictoei of rte V“ the conte »Poraneous

pictures of the Indians m Incan days.

r>not 6 TS Gn WCar innumerable bright-colored petti¬
coats and blouses, quite obviously patterned after the

corresponding. garments of their white sisters but
bey still retain the short poncho, the gay-colored

anTIhe le rf ,™ br ° idered «»™tlets, the manta

wM, knotted^bodhTdTdsdlgd 10 *

wds “ind: d and

1S P rob!lb, y no hardier, more patient or more

d as I' T • th6Se Indi “ s - L.V

dt^dd” * C ° Id ' forbiddi “® Weak and al-
and, accustomed for innumerable gen-

The Children of the Sun 333

erations to hardships, unending toil and the barest
necessities of life; descended from ancestors who were
oppressed by the Incas and enslaved by the Span¬
iards, and treated more like beasts than human beings
by the whites of to-day, these Children of the Sun live
and seem contented and happy under conditions
which would be impossible for any other race.

Wherever there is a tiny patch of soil, no matter
how poor, it is intensively cultivated. Every tiny
valley is tilled, every hillside and mountain where
there is a scraping of soil is terraced with farms and
gardens from base to summit. And where nothing
can be grown the Indians graze their flocks of sheep
and their herds of llamas and alpacas. Their homes
are mere hovels of stones or adobe, their beds a few
hides or a thin layer of straw upon the bare earth.
Their food is frozen potatoes, barley and tough dried
meat, and their fuel, llama dung or the dried yaretta
plant. Here and there the Indians may be seen culti¬
vating their land with steel hoes, but ninety times out
of a hundred they plow with a crooked stick and use
a short-handled, awkward, heavy-bladed hoe exactly
like those of Incan and pre-Incan days, to use which
the Indian has to bend almost double. Never do
these Indians waste a moment of their lives. From
daylight until dark the men and boys labor in the
fields or drive their llamas to market laden with the
few products of their industry. From daylight to
dark and later the women and girls tend the flocks,
weave ponchos, blankets and cloth, or help the men
in the fields, and wherever they may be, whatever
they may be doing, the women, unless their hands are
otherwise occupied, are ceaselessly, constantly spin-

. 4 ° LD Civilizat io^s of the New World
ning wool into thread by means nf
The only breaks in their monotonous™!,^ , Sp!ndles '
are the weekly trips to market, and oten£? “

tails a long and wearv ionmotT * us ^ ri P en-

deserts for fifty to one hundred
As mentioned m another chapter, the old T
custom of each village or settlement being“H
to one industry still prevails to large exteift
inhabitants of two neighboring vilkLs
products of their labor for JLy JL Yf take
and there exchange with one another.
trips, and whenever the Indians are tra^ r ** Se
working, they constantly chew the coT °*
When masticated with a bit of i; m leaves.

to Sa am h Unt ° f C ° Caine is P roduced ^ and^this serves
y hunger and weariness and enables thp T

hundred pounds for twenty to fifHr mi 0

highest mountains withou/apparent f,\“ aCross
Curco and other cities the

aVlo^f to ®- al ° ng the Streets ™ d bending under
the load of a piano or an immense packing b“ S
machinery or other goods. 18 ° X of

0 ,^ te “ P “ the AmJe «“ Man, especially the

2 obser^ fc 6 * and S “ timenta1 ’ and «*« the easu-
ai observer the impression of being sad, depressed

h, C °” sid '™* the endless cent^elX!

g which these people were ground down, oppressed

and brutalized, it would not be surprising if ttev had

become pessimists. But, as a matter of Ll

far from depressed or hopeless. At the tim«rf

The Children of the Sun 335

fiestas and dances, on Saints’ days and market days,
they are gay, happy and enjoy life to the utmost. To
be sure, their utmost consists largely of gossiping,
dancing and getting drunk on the vile rum of the
traders and unprincipled shopkeepers of the towns.
But fortunately these Indians seldom become
boisterous, disorderly or quarrelsome when under
the influence of alcohol. They become unusually
gay, dance and sing, talk a bit loudly and thickly,
and in the end fall asleep. Fortunately for them the
women usually remain sober and look after their
helpless menfolk. Often several women ma y be seen
dragging and helping some staggering, wabbly-
legged fellow toward his distant home. If he is too
far gone, their lord and master may be uncere¬
moniously packed on to a burro or llama and carried
off like a sack of meal. But it cannot be denied that
their history of ceaseless oppression has left them
with a heritage of sadness. Their music is always of
a plaintive, wailing character and they are fond of
depressing rather than cheerful pictures, stories and
songs. But their hard life and harder past have not
made them either callous or hard-hearted. On the
contrary they are very kind and are excessively fond
of their families, their homes and even of their live
stock. Very seldom will an Indian kill a fowl or any
domestic animal for his own use, and if the stranger
purchases such he must buy it alive and do the
slaughtering himself out of the Indian’s sight. In
fact, if the Indian desires a fowl, a pig or any other
creature for food, he will travel a long distance and
trade or purchase it from some one else, even though

nanvr rvrrrrv rkl£m+Tr A”? InrA O^AaTt liUTIQpW-

336 Old Civilizations of the New World

As in prehistoric days, every creature is supposed
to possess a spirit or soul, and each has its own special
fiesta day. Originally, no doubt, these feast days of
the various domestic fowls and quadrupeds were
dedicated to Incan or pre-Incan divinities. But with
their veneer of Christianity, the Indians nowadays
have adopted the days of Catholic Saints as the feast
days for their domestic creatures. On these days the
animals, to whom the day is dedicated, are washed,
brushed, decorated with ribbons and ornaments, and
a dance and feast are held in their honor. As the
llamas are the most important beasts of all, it is
natural that they should be treated with the greatest
respect and should have the greatest fiestas. To the
Indians the llama is like a member of the family.
Every attention is shown him, he is tenderly cared
for, decorated with bells, beautifully woven trappings
and ribbons, and if he dies or is killed the Indians are
inconsolable and mourn his loss as they would the
loss of a child.

The religion of these Indians is a strange mixture
of Christianity and sun-worship. On nearly every
hut one may see a cross, but invariably, adjoining
the symbol of the Christian church or somewhere near
it, is the Incan sun. Although the rites of the
Catholic Church are meticulously followed, and chil¬
dren are baptized and christened with Spanish names,
and although mass and confessions are always at¬
tended, still the Indians cling in their hearts to the
religion of their ancestors. Just how much actual
faith they have in Christianity, and how much of their
devotion to the Church is to satisfy the priests and
for the sake of personal benefits and protection, it is

337

The Childken of the Sun-

difficult to say. But it is certain that they feel a
lingering doubt as to the efficacy of the white man’s
religion and believe in playing safe by holding to the.
religion of their forefathers as well. In many places
they always carry images of their own gods with
them when they go to church, and the age-old cere¬
monials and rites of their race are still kept up, al¬
though nowadays they are held upon the Holy Days
of the Catholic Church.

Yet few of them have any clear idea of the religion
and the beliefs of the Incans, or possess real tradi¬
tions of their past, and few of their caciques or chiefs
are of royal Inca blood. Here and there one finds an
individual or a family, even an entire village or com¬
munity, claiming direct descent from the Incas, and
near Oruro in Bolivia the members of a small tribe
of Quichua stock call themselves Incas. Also,
throughout Peru and Bolivia, there are certain indi¬
viduals and families with enormous hooked noses
commonly known as the “Inca nose” and whose pos¬
sessors claim to be of royal blood. Unquestionably
there must be many hundreds, perhaps thousands of
these Indians in whose veins flows blood of the Incas,
and there are a few Indians who are well known to
be lineal descendants of Atahualpa or Pluascar.
One of these is recognized as such by many of the
Bolivian tribes, another is employed in the Lima
Country Club, but as a rule the Indians recognize
no authority save that of their own caciques and the
national government officials.

Though the present-day Indians do not approach
the high quality of the textile and ceramic arts of
their ancestors, still their textiles excel those of all

338 Old Civilizations of the New Would

other American races, not even excepting the Nava-
jos of our Southwest. Woven from wool, llama hair
or alpaca upon the crudest of hand-looms, their
cloth, rugs, blanklets and ponchos are more durable,
more beautiful and better in every way than any¬
thing yet produced by machinery. Formerly only
vegetable and mineral dyes were used, but, most
regrettably, aniline dyes are now utilized to larger ex¬
tent. In their patterns and designs the Indians fol¬
low the motifs of their Incan and pre-Incan
ancestors, even using the “six-unit” system in many
cases. As a rule the patterns are combinations of
various geometrical designs with human, bird and
animal figures, together with the representations of
the ancient deities. The Andean goose, the condor,
the llama and the jaguar, all prominent in Incan and
pre-Incan mythology, are common motifs, and often
one finds the sun-god, the condor-headed god and
other semihuman mythological beings embodied in
the designs.

As already mentioned, certain villages are. devoted
exclusively to the manufacture of certain things.
The inhabitants of one may spin or card wool, those
of another may weave nothing but rugs, those of an¬
other may produce only ponchos; still others may
devote themselves to woodwork; those of another to
rawhide articles, those of still another may turn out
pottery and nothing else, and so on. In many cases
the people do not even weave the rugs, blankets and
ponchos for their own use, but depend upon purchas¬
ing or trading them from others, though as a rule
a certain amount of textile work is done in every com¬
munity. About Cuzco, the Indians are primarily

The Children of the Sun 339

agricultural, and few of the women know how to use
a loom, whereas about Huancayo and Ayacucho
weaving is the leading industry.

In their ceramics these Indians have sadly de¬
generated in most places, and the modern ware, with
few exceptions, is coarse and far from attractive, al¬
though following to some extent the old Incan and
pre-Incan forms. About Trujillo, the descendants
of the Chimus still make pottery vessels in effigy
forms; portrait jars are common in several localities;
in the vicinity of Cochabamba and La Paz much of
the modern pottery follows Tiahuanaco forms and
decorative motifs, and in the neighborhood of Sicuani
in Peru the Quichuas produce very beautiful pottery
with a high glaze, but unfortunately imitate Euro¬
pean forms and designs.

Like most Indians, both the Quichuas and
Aimaras are wonderful imitators, and are able to re¬
produce almost any object they see and examine.
Working entirely by hand and with the simplest and
crudest of tools, these Indians manufacture shoes,
boots, hats, harness, furniture, musical instruments,
toys and innumerable other articles which find a
ready sale in the cities.

The Indians, however, are by no means confined
to their own arts and crafts. Practically all labor in
Bolivia and Peru is performed by Indians. They
are the miners, artizans, mechanics, household ser¬
vants, locomotive engineers, conductors, sailors,
laborers, drovers, herders, and in fact are represented
in every trade and profession. Without the Indians,
the countries could not exist, and should the Indians
refuse to work or strike en masse , business would

340 Old Civilizations of the New World

come to a standstill, not a wheel would turn, and the
inhabitants would starve to death.

President Leguia of Peru said, in a recent conver¬
sation with me:

“The Peruvians [and the Bolivians also] must
learn that the Indians are the most important people
in the country from an economic view-point. With¬
out them nothing can be accomplished and the future
prosperity and progress of Peru [and Bolivia] will
depend largely upon the welfare of the Indians.”

At present they are little more than slaves in the
countries they once owned and ruled. But they are
by no means lacking in intelligence, and, given prop¬
er living conditions, fair treatment, an even chance
and an education, they are capable of rising to any
height, as is proved by the many famous and promi¬
nent men of pure Indian blood in South America.
Among their numbers are lawyers, artists, scientists,
generals, merchant princes, bankers, statesmen; men
of every calling and profession, even presidents of re¬
publics, and it would not be at all surprising if ere
long descendants of the Incans should again rule the
lands where dwell the Children of the Sun.

In the foregoing chapter (Chapter XIV) I have
mentioned the musical talents of the Incan races, and,
have referred to the drama of Ollantay, a classic of
the Indians, which has been copied and borrowed by
many of the modern composers.

Much of the Incan and pre-Incan music has never
been written or printed, but is played by the Indians
by ear. The favorite instrument of the present-day
Quichuas and Aimaras is the quena or Incan flute.

The Children oe the Sun 341

made either from a bone, a hollowed piece of wood or
a natural reed. Pan’s-pipes, flageolets and trumpets
of cows’ horns are also used as solo instruments, while
the “bands” consist of drums, horns, flutes, Pan’s-
pipes, rattles, mandolin-like instruments with the
body formed from the carapace of the armadillo,
guitars, and at times native harps. A remarkable
instrument, used by some of the Aimara tribes of
Bolivia, is a gigantic form of Pan’s-pipes. In this
the tubes are of wood constructed like the pipes of
an organ, and are from three to ten feet in length.
As no one man could possibly expel enough air to
operate all of these huge pipes, and as he could not
move rapidly enough from one mouthpiece to an¬
other, the instrument is played by four or more In¬
dians, each playing one or two of the pipes. The
music produced is loud and penetrating but exceed¬
ingly sweet and mellow in tone.

The present-day Indians of the Peruvian and
Bolivian highlands are born musicians, and it is
seldom that a man or a boy is without his beloved
quena. As they walk along, bending under their
burdens; as they drive their llama trains; as they
hurry toward some fiesta or dance, they continually
play the plaintive, peculiar music of their Incan an¬
cestors upon their Incan quenas or their Pan’s-pipes.
And wherever a boy or a man is tending the flocks of
sheep, cattle, llamas or alpacas, the centuries-old airs
of the Incans will be heard, filling the rarified moun¬
tain air with their melodies. Often, so bird-like are
the notes, the stranger searches the stone-riddled
fields and the barren hillsides for some unkown
feathered songster, until he catches a glimpse of a

342 Old Civilizations of the New World

brown-skinned mite wrapped in a tattered red
poncho, and perched upon some out jutting rock
overlooking the flocks and herds grazing upon the
sparse dry herbage.

Much of the best-known and most popular Incan
music has been rearranged to suit the piano and other
conventional instruments, and has been published in
Peru. In the following pages some of these are
given, together with the Spanish versions of the
songs. Among these are examples of love-songs,
and several of the themes from the famous Ollantay.

jutting rock
ng upon the

>pular Incan
mo and other
published in
of these are
sions of the
f love-songs,
)us Ollantay.

Ollantay

KASHUA

MMkgm*

Ollantay

YARAVI 2.

a fi Lenta

Ollantay

HUAYNO

H.

Funerales de Atakialpa.

_

Aaclaisf®.

Cuando el Indio Ilora

A .mor.ci . to nuejyogui. si© . ra tgn

CACHASPARE

_____A

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INDEX

INDEX

Acatl, 168

Acxitl, 197

Aftonian stage, 7

Aguliar, Geronimo de, 147-148

Ahau, 107* 130

Ah Kin Cutz, 147

Ahpueh* 127

Ahuizotl, 191

Aimaras

beak-like noses among, 20
dialect of* 254-255, 274-275, 328
dress of, 332
industry of, 339-340
music of, 340-341
religion of, 336-337
temperament of, 332
textiles of, 338
Akapana, 263, 264-265
Akbal, 107

Amazon River, 285, 329
American Museum of Natural History
48,224

Amuenshas, 285
Ancon, 298
Apaches, 28, 29, 33
Apu-Auguis , 315
Apu-Tueuy-Ricac, 315
Arapahos, 29
Arara, 101
Araucania, 329
Arctic, 5
Arekuna, 27

Art and civilization, 34, 60
Atahualpa, 280, 281, 290-291, 292,
293, 304, 305, 329, 337
See list, 326
Ail, 201
Atlantis, 5
Atlatl, 68, 163, 217

Auquis, 315
Ayacucho, 330, 339
Aztecs

aristocracy of, 173

art preserved, 199

Aztec Treasure House ,, The, 189

calendar

“Binding of the Years,” 167, 168
birth-cycles, 167,169
cempohualli, 167
comparison with Mayan, 166/.
nemontemi, 167
“sun-year,” 168
adumalpilli, 168
calendar stone, 200-202
carvings, 161-162
characteristics of, 187
codices
Oxford, 165

Paris ( Tellerio-Remensis) , 166
Vatican, 166
colonies of, 188-189
comparison with African tribes,

71

comparison with Chibchas, 239
comparison with Mayas, 160
conquer Mayas, 98-99
descendants of, 204
Guaymis
See Guaymis
dialects, 170
domestic life of, 173
educational system, 171 *
feather-work of, 160
fighting equipment of, 163
influence on Zapotecan culture,

96

in Valley of Mexico, 188
knowledge concerning, 158-160

[ 381 ]

382 Old Civilizations of the Nw World

Aztecs— coni .
material on, 45-46
Montezuma of, 198-199
mosaics of, 161
not homogeneous, 21-22
organization of, 99, 157, 170-172
origin of, 48
painting, 164
'‘People of Anahuac," 157
pottery of, 194
priesthood, 170-173
prophecies of, 180-182
record destruction of world by
flood, 17-19

religion, 37, 101, 170-173
and battle with Tlascalans,
186-187

belief in eternity, 174

cannibalism in, 174

cruelty of, 186-187

evolution of, 174

gods and goddesses in, 174/., 184

human sacrifices in, 174, 175,

177,179

science of, 169-170
Semitic-like noses depicted, 19, 90
swords of, 162, 163
teocalli of, 191
thirteen, lucky, 169
use of metals, 163
writing of, 164-165
Aztec Treasure Bouse, The, 189
Aztlan, 158

Bacalar, 97
Bakhalal, 97
Baktun, 111, 112, 113
Balboa, Vasco Nufiez dc, 147
Ben, 107

Bering Strait, 5, 10 , 11

"Binding of the Years/' 167,168
"Birth of the Sun/' 309-312
"Black Christ," 145
Boehica, 240
Bodleian Library* 1B5

Bogota, 239

Bolivia, 13, 16, 56, 57, 83, 244, 258
261, 274, 279, 300, 318, 330, 337
Books of Childm Baldm, 45, H8
Brazil, 244

British Museum, vn, vni, 161
Burial-mounds, 55,86-87,245-247,298

Caban, 107
Cachaspare, 355
Cajamarca, 297, 304
Calderon, 136
Calendar
Aztec, 166-169
Gregorian, 22
Incan, 308/.

Mayan, 106/

Zapotecan, 166-167
"Calendar Round," 108,110,112,114.
127

Calendar stone (Aztec), 200-202
California, 14, 27,158
Callao, 55, 298
Calli, 167

Camanta Mountains, 293
Campas, 285
Cape Horn, 5
Caras, 321
Carib, 28
Cascay River, 293
Cauac, 104,107
Cave-dwellers, 30
Cayumba River, 293, 317
Ceh, 108
Cempohualli, 167

Central America, 55, 85, 08,206,252,

294

as cradle of prehistoric civilizatiozuL
57-60

Cerro de Pasco, 27

Chac-Mool, 102-103, 105, 139, 15L
154,179

Chalchihuitlicue, 105,179
Calchiuh-Tlatonac, 47,196
Chancay, 298

INDEX

888

Chan-Chan, - 222, 223, 233, 236-237,
238, 288, 290, 297
Chawin, 261
Checo

quoted on "Birth of the Sun,” 310*
312

Chen, 108
Chetumal, 148
Cheyennes, 29
Chiapas, 96
Chibchas
age of, 62
art of, 241
houses of, 240

human sacrifices among, 241
knowledge of, 48
matrilineal descent, 239-240
organization of, 239-240
religion of, 240-241
territory of, 239
Chicama Valley, 231
Chicchan, 107

Chichen-Itza, 97, 100, 102, 134, 139,
140

Chichimecs, 197
Chicomecoatl, 178
Chicomoztoc, 158
Chil&m Balam, 181
Children of the Sun, The, 329-342
Chile, 11,26,53,68,243,244,261,280,
290, 320, 329
Chimborazo, 319
Chimu-Capac, 222
Chimus, 22, 288, 298, 299
age of, 57

cities of, 231, 234-235
comparison with Chibchas, 239
comparison with Incas, 222
conquered by Incas, 238-239,

290

dialect of, 231

houses of, 234-235

influence on Quichua dialect, 328

life of, 233

metal work of, 223/., 294

Chimus —cont
origin of, 62, 231-232, 252n.
portrait jars of, 226-228
pottery of, 226#, 248, 339
remains of, 225-226
trepanning of skulls among,
228-229

tribe of Quichuas, 330
Chiriqui culture, 59
Cbolula, 171
Cbuac, 293
Omen, 107
Chulipa, 323
Chulpas, 307-308
Chunpom, 146
Chuquipampa, 293
Chuquis, 293
Chutas, 330
Ob, 107
Cimi, 107
Citlalpol, 185
City of Mexico, 198
Civilization
age determined
decomposition, 53
glyphs, 52

human remains, 53-54
and art, 60
defined, 61

first developed in Central
America, 40-42
versus culture, 60
Cliff-dwellers, 30ff., 42, 61
Coatlantona, 178
Coatlicue, 177-178
Cochabamba, 330, 339
Codes

acquaintance with elephant, 82
age of, 56, 62, 72-74
burials of, 86-87
comparison with others 71, 72
connection with Orient, 13
customs, 88-89
destruction of 91-93, 197n,
dress of, 81, 88

ooa ULD CIVILIZATIONS OF THE New WORLD

Codes —cont
geography of, 74
gold not found among, 85
houses of, 153
implements of, 85-86
Influence on others, 93
Mayan relationship, 152-155
metates of, 85
ornaments of, 85
personal appearance of, 90-91
population of, 75
pottery of, 83-86
present day, 152-154
religion of, 89-90
religious dance of, 153
remains of, 75

“Temple of a Thousand Idols*'
description and plan of, 76-82
idols in, 79-82

temple site of, 70, 138, 264, 265
wheels (?), 273
Codex Peresianus , 100
Codices

Codex Peresianus , 100
Dresden Codex, 100
Oxford Codex, 165
Paris Codex , 160
Troano Codex, 100
Vatican Codex, 160
Collas, 259, 330
Colombia, 48, 62, 239, 243
Colorado, Texas, 7
Conquest of Peru, The, v, 277
Copal, Prince, 190

Copan, 112,135
Coronado, 33

Cortez. 98,144.147.149,156.181.

190.200
Costa Pica, 150

Coxohehol dialect, 97

Coyolxauhqui, 178
Cro-Magnon, 8

Cuando el Indio Ilora, 350-351
Cultural Development and Influence,
23-38

Culture

among nomadic tribes, 29
development of, 23/.
diffusion of, 26-28
highest in sedentary races, 28-29
influence of imagination on, 35
of cliff-dwellers, 32
versus civilization, @0
Cumhu, 108
Curaca, 315
Cusi-Huascar
See Huascar

^uzco, oo, zol, m), 283,288,289 291
292, 300, 302, 313, 321, 323
328, 329, 330, 334, 338
Temple of the Sun, 262

Dentalium shells, 26
Desaguadero River, 316
Descendants of the Mayas, The, 143.
155

“Devil-sticks,” 220
Divorce

among Incas, 284
Doncella Inconstante, La, 354
Dresden Codex, 100
Dress

of Aimar&s, 332
of Cod6s, 81, 88
of Guaymis, 208-210
of Quichuas, 332
Durand, Dr. Juan, 317, 318
“Dwarfs' House,” 138
“Earth-Mother,” 19
Easter Island, 12
Eb, 107

Ecuador. 48, 56, 62, 70, 83, 239, 244
279,280,290,318,319,320,329,330
Effigy jars, 21, 226-228
Ehecatl, 183. 184, 201
Ekchuah, 103,145
“Empire of Xilbalba," 08
Environment, 25-26
Esquipultas, 145
Etzalqualiztli, 179

INDEX

885

Eznab, 107

Feather-work, 160
“Fiery-Mirror ” 174
Frederick, Oklahoma, 7
Funerales de Atahualpa, 348-349

Gann, Doctor, 97,146
Gateway of the Sun, 266-268
Generalizations, 63-71
Genesis, 17,18
Ghanan, 105
Gold

in possession of Chimus, 224-225
not in Cocl6 remains, 85
of Incas, 291-293
Great Lakes, 26
Gregorian calender, 22
Guacamayo, 74, 92, 232
Guanajuato, 156

Guatemala, 45, 94, 96, 97, 100, 101,
131,132,145,149,152,154
Guaymfs, 149,150
art of, 217-218
Aztec descent of, 163
cleanliness of, 208
dialect of, 221
“devil-sticks,” of, 220
dress of, 208-210
facial paintings of, 210
houses of, 201-208
imitation among, 27
independence of, 206
industry of, 207
musical instruments of, 218-

219

organization of, 211
physical characteristics of, 206-
207

proxies used by, 212-216
religion of, 89, 211-212
religious dance described, 213-216
smearing of grease and soot, 219-

220

use natlatdi, 163, 217

Gu&yqui-La Faz Railway, 259

Gucumatz, 101
Guerrero, Gonzalo, 148,

Baab, 114

“Hall of Columns,” 193
Heye Foundation, vn, vm, 13, 14J*
161,243

Honduras, 94,96,112,135,149* 156
Huaca de Toledo, 225
Hualla, 261
Huancas. 328, 330,331
Huancayo, 330, 339
Huancos, 315

Huascar, 181,280,281,290-291,293,
305, 325, 337
Realist, 326
Huastecas, 96,150
Huatulco, 46,195
Huayna-Kapac, 181,281,289-290,

293, 324
See list, 326
Huayno, 353
Huehuetzin, 197
Huemac II, 47,196,197
Hueymatzin, 47,196
Huicholes, 56- 182
Huitzilopochtli, 144,177,184,19Q,

191

Hunabku, 102,145-146

Hunpictok, 137

lea, 247
Ik, 107
Imagination
and religion, 36
influence on culture, 35
Imix, 107
Incans

astronomy of, 309
at Tiahu&naco, 260-261
“Birth of the Sun,” 309
calendar of, 308
“Children of the Sun,” 330
See Chapter XV

386 Old Civilizations

Incans— -coni,
chulpas, 308

civil wars among, 287-288
communistic organization of, 99
282 /.

comparison with African tribes, 71

development of empire of, 288-290

division of empire, 290-291

divorce among, 284

end of empire, 329

features of, 21, 90

founding of empire, 280/.

gold of, 291-293

history of, 244

human sacrifices prohibited, 284
language not written, 312-313
law enforcement among, 283-284
Mapuches, 329
marriage among, 285-280
materials on, 281
meaning of word, 278
metal work of, 294
origin of, 52
Pachacamac, 295-297
polygamy and polyandry among,
284-285

pottery of, 83, 321-322
pronunciation of names, 327-328
Quiclma dialect official, 286
qui'pos, 313-314
religion of, 37, 324-325
republican tendencies of, 315
road, 22, 320
Saycunin, 318-320
size of empire, 280-281
Spanish loot of, 291/.
stonework of, 302
supernatural ability of, 316-317
superstitions of, 315-317
taxes, 287

Incans and Pre-Incans, The, 277-328

Inea-Roca, 281
See list, 326

Inca-Yupanqui, 281
See list, 326

of the New World

Indians

Asiatic dialects among, 10-11
lack of skeletal remains of, 8-9
Mongol features of, 10
origin of
Atlantis, 5
Bering Strait, 5, 10
Greenland, 5-6,13
“Lost Tribes of Israel,” ft
Oceania, 6,11,13
South Pacific, 5,11-13
Inti, 325

Ipalneomohuani, 175-176
Iroquois, 42
Island of the Sun, 323
Itzaes, 100
Itzama, 102
Itzamak, 137
Itzmin Chac, 144
Itzpapalotl, 185, 202
lx, 103,107
Ixch’el, 103
Ixcoatl, 164
Ixtlilxoebitl, 46,195
Izpuzteque, 166

Jamaica, 147
Janvier, Thomas
Aztec Treasure Mouse , The, 189
Joyce, Thomas A., 62

Kakchiquel dialect, 97,148
Kalasasaya, 263

comparison with Cod6 temple, 265.
266

description of, 265-268
Gateway of the Sun, 266-268
Kan, 103,107
Kankin, 108
Kapac-Yupanqui, 281
See list, 326
Karanca, 316
Karas, 316

Katun, 111, 112,113,123
Kayab, 108

INDEX

Kelley-Sanka, 316

Eii, 105, 111, 112, 123, 129, 130
Kingdom of the Grand Chimu. The,
222-238

“Kingdom of the Great Snake*” 99
Kinichahau, 101,103,151
Kinich Kakmo, 100-101
Kins’hou, 151

Kukulcan, 100, 101, 137. 149 , 151 ,
154,182,240-241
KuTtan, 151
Kunter Ticsi, 324
Kus, 134-135

La Manpuesteria, 233
Lamat, 107
Lambayeque, 298
Landa, Diego de, 116-118
La Paz, 339

La Piedra Cansada, 318-320
Larco-Herera Museum (Lima), to, 227
Las Vivoras, 147
Laurikocha, 293
Leguia (President of Peru), 340
Likin, 130

Lima, 55, 222, 227, 295, 298
Lloque-Yupanqui, 281
See list, 326

“Long Count,” 110,112,114 123

Lurin, 292

Macchu-picchu, 307
Maia, 147

Mama-Ocllo, 280, 288, 323
See list, 326
Man

origin in America
See Indians
Mac, 108
Manabis
age of, 62

knowledge about, 48,56
metal work of, 243
pottery of, 242
stone thrones of, 70,242

887

Manco-Kapac, 280, 281,288,307,323,
325

See list, 326
Manik, 107
Mapuches, 261, 329
Maraflon, 293
Marriage ceremony
Incan, 285-286
Maya-Ejche tongue, 143
Mayapan, 100
Mayas
age of, 57, 62
and Toltecs, 96
architecture
arch missing, 132
decoration of, 135
“Dwarfs’ House,” 138
his, 134

size of rooms, 132-133
stucco, 133

“Temple of the Cross,” 136
“Temple of the Jaguars,” 137
ball-courts, 142
Boohs of Childm Bal&m, 45, 97
calendar

correlation of Mayan and
Christian dates, 114-115

“Long Count,” 123
months, 108

“Pounds,” 108,110,127
summary, 113-114
week days, 107
city-states of, 100
codices of, 100-101
comparison with African tribes, 71
comparison with Cocl6s, 72
conquered by Aztecs, 97
degree of civilization, 61
descendants of

attitude toward Spaniards, 143*
144

“Black Christ,*’ 145
culture of, 148
religion of, 145
and Christianity, 144

388 Old Civilizations of the New World

Mayas— coni.

descendants of — cord.
religious dances of, 148-149
savagery of, 146-148
dialects of, 97

disintegration of empire, 98-100,143

earliest date of, 113

history of, 97

Huastecas, 150

industry of, 140-142

Itzaes, 100

“Kingdom of the Great Snake,” 99
Mayapan, 100
New Empire, 96, 97,115
numerical system of, 110-111
Old Empire, 98,115
organization of, 99
origin of, 96-97
Popul Vuh, 45
priest-kings of, 100
pronunciation of names, 107
relationship to Code culture, 154/.
religion of, 37,101#.
genii of, 103
gods of, 101-106
human sacrifices, 102-103,138-
140

Second Empire, 100
sculpture of, 131

Semitic-like noses depicted, 19, 90
Shayshdns, 150jf.
similarities with others, 98
supposed influence on mound-
builders, 43
territory of, 96
“Turtle Stone,” 132
woodwork of, 134
writing of

calendrical records predominant,
118-121

“cartouches,” 121
difficulty in deciphering, 52,118
illustrated, 117, 119, 120, 122,
12i

Mayas, The, 94-142

Mayta-Kapae, 281
See list, 326
Mead, Charles W., 48
Men, 107
Metates, 64, 85
Mexicatl Teohuatzin, 172
Mexico, 48 , 55 , 68, 83 , 96 , 156 , 165 ,
170 , 187, 189, 193, 195, 209, 252
Mexico City, 156 , 199, 200
size of, 190-191
teocalli of, 191
Mictlan, 166,193
Miraflores, 298
Mitla, 193-194
Mixtecas, 156
Mochica, 231
Mol, 108
Mollendo, 297

Mollendo-Cuzco Railway, 321
Moneneque, 176-177
Monolito Abandonado, El, 318-320
Montafia, 285, 329
Monteros, 330
Montezuma, 164
Monzon, 317
Mosaics, 161
Mound-builders
actual knowledge about, 44, 56
artifacts of, 43
degree of civilization of, 61
theories concerning, 43
Muan, 108
Muluc, 103 , 107
Mummies, 246, 250
Museo Nacional (La Paz), vii
Museo Nacional (Mexico City), 199,
200

Museo Nadonal (Peru), vn
Museo Nacional (San Jose), vn
Museo of the University of Cuzco
(Peru), vn

Museum of the American Indian,
American Museum of Natural
History, vn, vm

INDEX

389

Museum of the American Indian,

Heye Foundation, vn, vm, 141,

161, 243

Mysterious Forgotten Races, 239-257
Mystery of Tiahu&naco, The, 258-276
Mythology
See Religion

Nachancan, 148

Nahuas, 46, 101, 102, 138,139, 157,
158,188,190,192,195,198
See Aztecs
Nanihehecatl, 183
Nasca district, 247, 252
Nascas
age of, 62

knowledge about, 48
mummies of, 250
organization of, 251
origin of, 252n.
possible Aztec influence, 176
pottery of, 15, 247-249
textiles of, 249
“whistling jars” of, 248
National Museum (Washington), vn
Navajo, 27, 28, 33, 338
Nemontemi, 168
Neonandi, 213, 214, 216
New World, v, 2, 7, 14, 22,51,52,53,
58, 161, 182, 222, 227,258,260,
273, 275, 281
Nexiuhilpilitzli, 167
Nextepehua, 166
Nezahualpilli, 176
Nicoya culture, 59, 72
Noche River, 233

Oaxaca, 193
Obsidian, 64
used by Aztecs, 162
Oc, 107
Oceania, 4, 6
Ocelotl, 201

Old World, 2ffi, 7,8, 11,14,37,50,52
Olin, 201

Olin-Tonatiah, 201
Olla ntay, 285

Ollantay , 308, 340, 342, 343-348
Ollantaytambo, 307, 308
Ophir, 256

Orient and pre-Incas, 254-256

Origin of Man in America, The, 1-22

Oruro, 330, 337

Otomis, 156

Otontecutli, 184

Oxford Codex, 165

Pachacamac, 192, 252, 291, 295-297,
324

Pacha-Cutic, 281, 315
See list, 326
Pacha-Kamac, 324, 325
See list, 326

Palace of the Incas, 269
Palenque, 100,136
Pampamarca, 293

Panama, 27, 48, 49, 56,59, 60,72,82,
85,89, 150,152, 163, 197, 205,
232,264,265,273
See Cocl6s
P&nuco, 96
Panuco River, 150
Paramonga, 237, 298
Paris Codex, 165-166
Patas, 293

“Path of the Dead,” 193
Pax, 108

Pern, 27,48,53,55,56,57,83,176,181,
192, 236, 237, 244, 247,250,256,
258, 274, 277, 278, 279,297,300,
303, 307, 316, 318, 319,328,330,
337, 340, 342
Peten Itza, 144
Philip II (Spain), 292
Pimentel, 298
“Pink” cities, 252-254
Pipestone, 26
Pipil culture, 97, 148, 156
Pisco, 247, 252, 288
Piscobamba, 293

390 Old Civilizations

Pizarro, 57 , 181 , 277 , 280 , 281 , 288 ,
291, 292, 297, 304, 306
“Place of Fruits,” 47
Pleiades, 168
Pleistocene period, 7
Plumed Serpent, 97,10$),101,102,134,
182

Polygamy, 284

Polynesia, 12

Pompeii of America, The, 72-93
Pop, 108

Popocatepetl, 179
Popul Vuh, 45
Portrait jars, 226-228, 274
Pottery
Aimard, 339
Chibcha, 241
Chinra, 226-230, 248
Cocl6, 83-85
Incan, 83, 321-322
Manabi, 242
Nascan, 247-249

“portrait” type, 83, 226-228, 274
pre-Incan, 83
Quichua, 339

Tiahu&nacan, 248, 273-274
JPre-Incans
age of, 62

and “Lost Tribes,” 256
and Nascas, 251
aquiline noses of, 90
architecture of, 15, 22
astronomy of, 309
comparison with Coc!4s, 72
Egyptian connection, 256
inclusiveness of term, 279-280
knowledge about, 48, 56
language not written, 312-313
Oriental influence on* 254-256
origin of, 254, 256
pottery of, 83
religion of, 37, 324
stonework of, 300
textiles of, 322-323
tools of, 70

of the New World

Prescott, William JEL

Conquest of Peru, The, v, 277*278
Priest-Kings, 100
Pueblo

evolution of, 30-33
Pueblos, 30, 33-34, 42, 61
Pueblo Viejo, 298
Punta Piedras, 298
Puzzles and Problems, 39-49
“Pyramid of the Skulls,” 192

Quatavita, Lake, 241
Quetta, 341, 342
Quer&taro, 156
Quetzal, 137

Quetz&leoatl, 172, 180-181, 182-184,
185, 240
Quiahuitl, 201
Quiche dialect, 97,148
Quichuas

beak-like noses among, 20
dialect of

Hualla language, 261
official language of Incas, 274,286
pronunciation of, 327-328
similarity to Chinese and Japan¬
ese, 254-255
dress of, 332

feast days for animals, 336
industry of, 332-334, 339-340
music of, 340-341
religion of, 336-337
temperament of, 331-332, 334*335
textiles of, 27, 28, 338
Quihuilla, 293
Quimsa Wiri, 293
Quipos, 313-314
Quirioigua, 131,132
Quito, 290, 319, 320,321

Raco, 317
Ra in, 293

Raton, New Mexico, 7
Relative Ages of American Civilisa¬
tions, 50-62

INDEX

391

Religion
and art, 36-37
and civilization* 37-38
Aztec, 37, 301, 170-188
Code, 89-90, 153
Guaymf, 89,211-212, 213-216
Inca, 37, 324-325
Maya, 37, 101-106, 138-140
J Quichua, 336-337

] . Shaysh4n, 151

Rimac Valley, 288, 297, 299
Rochtli, 167
Rosetta stone, 50,118

Sacsahuam4n, 307
Sahagun, 172
Sahhuayacu, 313
Saint Thomas, 182
Salavery, 222
Salvador, 96

Santa Cruz de Bravo, 146
; Santo Domingo Church, 302

Saycunin, 318-320
Scroll

! in Cocl6 pottery, 84

Shaymc, 151
Shay sh 4ns
appearance of, 151
dialect of, 152
foods of, 151
head-dress of, 152
houses of, 150-151
4 organization of, 150

religion of, 151
weapons of, 151
! Sicuani, 339

Sierra, Mancio, 283
Sinchi-Roca, 281
See list, 326
Sioux, 28, 29
Sirionos, 13
Socsoc, 325
See Wira-Kocha
Solomon, 257
South Sea Islands, 5

Spanish conquest, 20, 22, 45,46,118,

143, 165, 174, 188, 189,195,199,
205, 231, 239, 244, 279,281,299.
322

Spence (quoted), 170
Stela A, 112
Stone age, 14, 43
Stucco, 133
Supay, 324

Superstition, 23, 219-220, 315-317
Suspiros del Chanchamayo, 352
Suynyoc, 315
Swastika, 271
Sword

used by Aztecs, 162

Tahuantisuyo, 330
Tecpanecs, 156
Tecpatl, 168

Tellerio-Remensis Codex, 166
Telpochtli, 176
Tello, Doctor, 227, 252
“Temple of the Foliated Cross,” 100„
136

“Temple of the Jaguars,” 137
Temple of the Sun (Cuzco), 262
description of, 292, 302-306
Temple of the Sun (Pachaeamac), 291,.
295,296,297

Temple of the Sun (Teotihuacan), 192-
193

Temple of the Sun (Tiahu4naco)

See Kalasasaya

“Temple of a Thousand Idols,” 264,
265

description and plan of, 76-82
idols in, 79-82
Tenochtitlan, 156, 189, 195
See Mexico City
Teocalli, 191-192
Teocuinani, 179
Teotihuacan, 192,197
Terriba culture, 59
Tezcatlipoca, 166,174,176,183, 184
Tezcuco, Lake, 156, 197

.392 Old Civilizations

‘Tiahu&naco
age of, 22, 57, 62, 275
.Aimard dialect used, 275
Akapana, 263, 264-265
altar, 268-269
area of, 263

catastrophe at, 262,263
influence of, 275, 295
Kalasasaya, 263, 265-268
knowledge about, 56
name of, 261

occupied by Incas, 260-261
pottery of, 248, 273-274
ruins of, 16, 55, 258-260
supposed connection with Nascans,
251

Temple of the Sun
See Kalasasaya
theory of races in, 262-263
tools of, 70

Tunca-Puncu, 263, 269-271
wheel at, 271-273

'Titicaca, Lake, 258,260,275,280,300,
323, 330

Tlaloc, 102, 179, 190, 197
Tlapallan, 46, 158, 195, 196
Tlapallantanzinco, 46, 196
Tlascalans, 156, 186
Tlauizcalpantecutli, 183, 185
Toch tepee, 46,195
Tohil, 183

Toledo, Francisco de, 292, 310
Tollan, 47, 92,157, 193, 196
Tollantzinco, 46, 171, 195
Toltecs
age of, 62

calendar of, 15 . , %

history of, 46-47

legendary connection with Mayas,
96 -r }

legends about, 195-198
possible connection with CocU, 92n
question of, 157

Toltecs and Aztecs, The, 156-203
Tonalmatl, 113

or the New World

Tonatiah, 175, 201

Torontoy, 285

Totomacs, 156

Toveyo, 47,196

Toxcatl, 177

Troano Codex, 100

Trujillo, 225, 233, 236, 330, 339

Tula, 47,196

Tulum, 146

Tun, 111, 112,113, 123

Tunca-Puncu, 263
description of, 269-271
metal keys of, 270-271
Palace of the Incas, 269
Tunja, 239
Tupac-Yupanqui, 281
See list, 326
“Turtle Stone," 132
Tzec, 108

Uayayab, 105
Uinal, 111, 112, 123
Uo, 108
Urcos, 293
Uros, 316
Urubamba, 321
Uxrnal, 138

Valdivia, 147

Valley of Mexico, 158, 165,188, 196

Vatican Codex, 166

Vega, Garcilasso de la, 261,277-278

Venus, 125-127, 185

Vera Cruz, 156, 170, 180, 181, 192

Vikings

as forebears of Indians, 5-6
Viracocha, 307

Where Montezuma Still Rules, 204-221
“Whistling jars," 248
Willca-Huaman, 319n
Willca Pampa, 292
Wira-Kocha, 281, 324, 325
See list, 326

Wira-Kocha (Creator of the Lake), 324

Xalaquia, 178

Xalisco, 46, 195
Xamancana, 147
Xipe, 105, 178-179
Xiuhcoatl 9 185, 202
Xiuhtecutli, 184, 202
Xochicalco, 192,193
Xocfoipili, 185
Xu!, 108

Yahuar-Haukac, 281
Yaotzin, 176
Yax, 108,129
Yaxin, 129
Yaxkin 108
Yezcuco, 193
Yoalli Ehecatl, 176
Yolcuat, 183

INDEX 398

Yucatan, 45, 94, 96, 97, 98,101,146,
149, 152, 181
Yum Kaax, 105
Yungas, 330
dialect of, 231, 328

Zac, 108
Zapotecs

borrow from Mayas and Aztecs, 96
calender of, 166
location of, 156
Zip, 108
Zippa, 239
Zoque, 239
Zotz, 108

Zotzilaha-Chimalman, 103
Zutugil dialect, 97,148

ij
* '7;